CASE STUDY OF A

CHILD AGE 16
STANLEY KOSLOWSKI
EDU 220
ABSTRACT

• Physical- Body has achieved full maturation, on the cusp of full adult size.
• Emotional- Can convey complex emotions, can experience depression more at this stage
• Cognitive- Building knowledge for the future and trying to figure out the next step
• Psychosocial- Building relationships outside of the family and becoming more
independent
• Moral- Making sure you are doing what you are doing to build your own character
PHYSICAL- TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTS

• Has essentially completed physical maturation

• Physical features are shaped and defined.

• The probability of acting on sexual desires increases

• Girls usually have stopped growing and are the full adult size or close

• Boys are on the cusp of full growth and have almost become adult size

• Hair growth for girls is done and completed, boys almost have their adult patterns.

(University of Washington, (Child Development Institute,

1993) 2015)
PHYSICAL- TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT LEVEL
ACCORDING TO SNOWMAN
• Most students reach physical maturity
• Virtually all attain puberty

• Many adolescents become sexually active

• Although the long term trend is down

• The Birthrate of unmarried adolescents is down, but it is still unacceptably high

• As is the rate of sexually transmitted diseases

• Glandular changes occur most in this age group affecting many things
• Acne, higher sex drive, and self-consciousness

(Snowman, J. & McCown, R., 2013)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN OBSERVATION

The 16-year-old boy I observed has gotten much taller in the

last few weeks. He was at about 65 inches in height but now is
at 71 inches. He has a good amount of acne that came with the
growth spurt. He is slowly starting to grow facial hair more and
more every time I see him. It started with just some fuzz above
the lip but now the chin area is starting to grow in more and
the mustache looks thicker as well. The cheek area is starting to
slowly grow. He is coming into his weight more as he has
gotten taller before he was on the short side with some extra
weight but the height has evened it out. He has full
coordination now and is starting to really come into his physical
stature.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Make sure the adolescent is getting the recommended amount of sleep 8-10 hours per 24 hours)
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Make sure the child is getting at minimum about an hour a day of physical activity
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Make sure the teen, if they are engaged in sexual activity, is taking the steps to perform safe sex
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Encourage your teen to eat healthy to maintain the required nourishment in their changing body
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Show interest in your teen’s school and extracurricular interests and activities and encourage him to become involved in
activities such as sports, music, theater, and art.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Recognize and compliment physical maturity

(University of Washington, 1993)
EMOTIONAL- TRAIT BEHAVIORS

• Worries about failure

• May appear moody, angry, lonely, impulsive, self-centered, confused, stubborn

• Has conflicting feelings about dependence, independence

• Have more interest in romantic relationships and sexuality

• Have a deeper capacity for caring and sharing and for developing more intimate relationships

• Feel a lot of sadness or depression

• Can lead to poor grades, alcohol or drug use, unsafe sex, and other problems

(University of Washington, (Center for Disease Control and

1993) Prevention, 2017)
EMOTIONAL TRAIT BEHAVIORS ACCORDING TO
SNOWMAN
• Many psychiatric disorders either appear or become prominent during adolescence
• These include eating disorders substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression, and suicide

• The most common emotional disorder is depression

• If depression becomes severe, it can lead to suicide

• Students express their emotions better at this stage in their age

• Students feel their emotions more and can see how many different emotions we have

• Substance abuse can change emotional patterns and affect the student on an emotional level

(Snowman, J. & McCown, R.,

2013)
EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR OBSERVATION

The teen I observed was pretty good at expressing all their

emotions and conveying how they felt about almost everything. They
did look that they might be having a small battle with depression
because of their bad grades and feeling sad at times with them. They
seem to try for the most part but the results are not in their favor
and it shows. They did have a slight substance abuse problem
hanging around their peers which directly impacted their mood
when confronted about smoking and that also is a factor in the
sadness. But the teen shows complex emotions more than a younger
child can and they can hide their emotion better than a younger
child.
 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Be available to talk and listen.
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Accept feelings. Don’t overreact; jointly establish limits
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Avoid ridicule of inconsistent behaviors. Accept the need for
separation
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Talk with them about their concerns and pay attention to any
changes in their behavior. Ask them if they have suicidal
thoughts, particularly if they are sad or depressed.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)
• Respect your teens need for privacy.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Show affection for your teen. Spend time together doing

things you enjoy.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Respect your teen’s opinion. Listen to them without playing

down their concerns.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)
COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL TYPICAL
DEVELOPMENTS
• May lack information or self- assurance about personal skills and abilities

• Seriously concerned about the future

• Beginning to integrate knowledge leading to decisions about future

• Learn more defined work habits

• Show more concern about future school and work plans

• Be better able to give reasons for their own choices, including about what is right and wrong

(University of Washington, (Center for Disease Control and

1993) Prevention, 2017)
COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTS
ACCORDING TO PIAGET & VYGOTSKY
Piaget
• Formal Operational Stage
• “Is the ability to respond to the form of a
problem rather than its content and to
form a hypothesis. This happens when they
reach the point of being able to generalize
and engage in mental trial and error by
thinking up hypotheses and testing them in
their heads. They are capable of solving
problems by systematically using abstract
symbols to represent real objects. ”
(Snowman, J. & McCown, R., 2013, p. 43)
Vygotsky
• Psychological Tools
• “They allow us to manipulate our
environment consciously and systematically.
Providing students with explicit and clear
verbal instructions and the basic purpose of
instruction is not to simply add one piece of
knowledge to another like pennies in a
piggy bank but to stimulate and guide
cognitive development.”
(Snowman, J. & McCown, R., 2013, p. 53)
COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL OBSERVATION
CHARACTERISTICS
These characteristics definitely fit my 16-year-old. The mental trial and error is
the most accurate one because the upper-level thinking that is required makes
the student use that formal operation stage. The child has to use higher level
thinking because the problems and questions are longer and require that
extra thought. They are forced to build upon answers and you help that
building by introducing new levels on a topic that stimulates and guides their
cognitive thinking. The student needs that stimuli to continue advancing their
cognitive ability because as you go higher in education the more complex the
questions and information becomes. They are in the formal operating stage is
the last stage of Piaget’s cognitive development so it’s incredibly important as
a teacher to continue to develop your student’s cognitive ability.
COGNITIVE/INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Facilitate appointment with a school counselor.
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Encourage talking about and planning for the future.
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Encourage your teen to develop solutions to problems or
conflicts. Help your teenager learn to make good decisions.
Create opportunities for him to use his own judgment, and
be available for advice and support.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Learn more defined work habits.

(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Show more concern about future school and work plans.

(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Be better able to give reasons for their own choices,

including about what is right or wrong.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)
PSYCHOSOCIAL/SOCIAL TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTS

• Relationships with parents range from friendly to hostile

• Sometimes feels that parents are “too interested”

• Usually has many friends and few confidants; dates actively; vary greatly in level of maturity

• May be uncomfortable, or enjoy activities with the opposite sex; may talk of marriage

• May be strongly invested in a single, romantic relationship

• Show more independence from parents

• Spend less time with parents and more time with friends
(University of Washington, (Center for Disease Control and
1993) Prevention, 2017)
PSYCHOSOCIAL/SOCIAL TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTS
ACCORDING TO ERIKSON
Identity vs Role Confusion

Identity Role Confusion

“The goal is the development of “The danger of having no clear
the roles and skills that will conception of appropriate
prepare adolescents to take a types of behavior that others
meaningful place in adult society. If will react to favorably. If they
they succeed in integrating roles in are unable to establish a sense
different situations to the point of of stability in various aspects
experiencing continuity in their of their lives, role confusion
perception of self, identity results.”
develops.

(Snowman, J. & McCown, R., 2013, p. 30)

PSYCHOSOCIAL/SOCIAL OBSERVATION
CHARACTERISTICS
• The 16-year-old I observed was all about hanging out with friends
instead of the parents. He was always asking to go out and be around
them and when he had to come back. The student was in the role
confusion stage though. He did not have good grades so what’s next
was something he didn’t have any idea about. He has no identity and
that’s something that troubles him. The future of himself as a person
in society is in question and he has to figure out his own path in the
world. He is very social online with his video game friends. He is at
his best when he is playing the game and talking to them. He does
have a girlfriend and seems to really like her and shows a lot of
independence when she is around him.
PSYCHOSOCIAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Try to maintain a good relationship; be respectful and friendly • Respect your teen’s need for privacy.
(University of Washington, 1993) (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Try not to pry
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Recognize and accept the current level of interest in the
opposite sex. Encourage experiences with a variety of people
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Talk with your teen and help him plan ahead for difficult or
uncomfortable situations. Discuss what he can do if he is in a
group and someone is using drugs or under pressure to have
sex or is offered a ride by someone who has been drinking.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)

• Avoid disapproval; discuss needs and expectations that get

met in the relationship
(University of Washington, 1993)

• If your teen works, use the opportunity to talk about

expectations, responsibilities, and other ways of behaving
respectfully in a public setting.
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)
MORAL/CHARACTER TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTS

• Is confused and disappointed about discrepancies between stated values and actual behaviors of
family and friends

• Experiences feelings of frustration, anger, sorrow, and isolation

• May be interested in sex as a response to physical-emotional urges and as a way to participate in

the adult world

• Conform to the conventions of society because they are the rules of society

(University of Washington, (Snowman, J. & McCown, R.,

1993) 2013, p. 61)
MORAL/CHARACTER TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTS
ACCORDING TO KOHLBERG
Level 2: Conventional Morality

Stage 3
• “Good boy-nice girl orientation. The right
action is one that would be carried out by
someone whose behavior is likely to please
or impress others. Your parents will be
proud of you if you are honest.”
Stage 4
“Law and order orientation. To maintain
the social order, fixed rules must be
established and obeyed. It is essential to
respect authority. It’s against the law, and if
we don’t obey laws, our whole society
might fall apart.”

(Snowman, J. & McCown,

R., 2013, p. 61)
MORAL/CHARACTER OBSERVATION
CHARACTERISTICS
The 16-year-old I observed was in Stage 4 of Kohlberg’s Moral
characteristics. He is in the stage of obeying the law because that is
the law. He told me that one night he was out with his friends
somewhat late and they wanted to jaywalk across the street. He
told them hey guys we should not do that because the law is the
law for a reason and if we do it, it is dangerous. Typical 16-year-old's
told him it was fine and they jaywalked across the street. Of course,
a cop was the first car they beat when the ran across the street and
the kids were all arrested and given a ticket besides the teen I
observed. He went to the crosswalk and crossed the street legally.
The kids now have to do 200 hours of community service and the
teen does not because he didn’t break the law.
MORAL/CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Be sensitive to the youth's feelings and thoughts. • Provide correct information on human sexuality,
(University of Washington, 1993) venereal disease, HIV and AIDS, birth control, intimacy,
and safe types of sexual experimentation.
• Try to bring them out in the open. (University of Washington, 1993)
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Communicate your feelings about sexual relations. Be
• Understand your own perspectives relating to values. open to discussion and appreciate possible differences
(University of Washington, 1993) in values and needs.
(University of Washington, 1993)
• Don't moralize. Accept sexual experimentation as
normal and healthy, although discourage them from
unprotected coital sex.
(University of Washington, 1993)
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Child development.

Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/facts.html

Child Development Institute (2015). The ages and stages of child development.
Retrieved from https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/ages-stages/#.WR3Id_QrLrc

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

University of Washington. (1993). Child development: Using the child development guide. Retrieved from
http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev/cd06.htm