The Struggling Adolescent

The Struggling Adolescent

Observations

Nadia disrupts the classroom through her open use of the phone while the teacher is teaching and outrightly refuses to give up the use of her phone. She also addresses the teacher in a disrespectful manner, causing the class to stop and pay attention to the exchange between her and the teacher. Some of Nadia’s peers seem to support her behavior, whereas others are offended by it. Nadia seems to enjoy the attention that she has drawn from her fellow peers as the class is brought to a standstill. She claims that she needs her phone on so as to stay connected with her group chat, and this brings about the influence of social media on the way adolescents interact with each other. However, from Nadia’s sitting position and the distance that she keeps from the rest of her classmates, it is evident that Nadia’s peers avoid her. She can be considered a deviant and a rejected child who communicates through rule-breaking behavior and aggression and forms friendships or seeks acceptance from peers through such behaviors.

Key Factors

According to Santrock (2023), parents have the ability to influence the peer relations of adolescents through their interactions, the opportunities that they offer them, and the manner in which they manage their lives. Various studies show the significance that family environment has on the development and behavior of adolescents. According to Reena (2015), a failure by parents to discipline deviant behavior by the adolescent can contribute to deviance. In Nadia’s case, it can be argued that extreme punishment for wrong-doing, such as being kicked out of the home, contributes greatly to Nadia’s deviance. Furthermore, Tran et al. (2021) argue that weak parental involvement, lack of family harmony, constant family conflict, or poor adolescent-parent relationship increases the likelihood of deviance. In fact, the strength of attachment between children and their parents is considered the most significant factor in lessening or increasing the probability of adolescent deviance (Kroese et al., 2021; Santrock, 2023). Nadia has poor relations with her mother, and they constantly argue over Nadia’s deviant behavior. Single parenthood is also a key contributor to adolescent deviance. Kroese et al. (2021) posit that children from single-parent households have a high tendency to act out, especially when divorce is the reason for single parenthood. In Nadia’s case, it can be assumed that Nadia’s father died, causing Nadia’s mother to raise the children alone. Nadia’s behavior might be a cry for help, as she finds it hard to adjust to being raised by her mother alone.

Loneliness

Friendships in adolescence are important as they are a source of companionship, ego support, stimulation, social comparison, physical support, and affection or intimacy (Santrock, 2023). In adolescence, there is an intensified need for intimacy, causing teens to look for close friends, failure to which they experience loneliness, as well as a lessened sense of self-worth. Having no close relations with others or experiencing peer rejection is likely to result in depressive symptoms.

Social Skills Strategies

Cooperative group training in which opportunities for social problem solving or devising cooperative solutions to various problems are offered can help Nadia improve her social skills. A training program can be implemented to allow interactions between Nadia and her peers, providing an opportunity for Nadia to speak and listen actively to her peers and find effective solutions to problems. Encourage intimate relations with the parent. Research shows that the social skills shown by an adolescent demonstrate parental practices like cohesion, parental attachment, autonomy, and responsiveness (Engels, Deković & Meeus, 2019). Through therapy, Nadia’s relations with her mother can be patched to facilitate increased connectedness and, hence, pave the way for better social skills. Encouraging Nadia to take part in sports can also help improve her social skills, as most sports are based on teamwork and cooperation. Nadia can develop more supportive peer friendships by engaging in prosocial behavior. This would require her to be cooperative, generous, honest, and trustworthy, enabling her friends to trust her and be willing to help her where necessary.

 References

Engels, R. C., Deković, M., & Meeus, W. (2019). Parenting practices, social skills and peer relationships in adolescence. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 30(1), 3-17.

Kroese, J., Bernasco, W., Liefbroer, A. C., & Rouwendal, J. (2021). Growing up in single-parent families and the criminal involvement of adolescents: a systematic review. Psychology, Crime & Law, 27(1), 61-75.

Reena, R. (2015). Factors Influencing Deviant Behavior Among Adolescents. Journal of Applied Research, 5(10), 583-584.

Santrock, J.W. (2023). Adolescence (17ed.). McGraw Hill Education.

Tran, T. H., Le, T. N. L., Nguyen, T. M., & Le, T. T. (2021). Relationships between models of family education and deviant behaviors among teenagers. In Conference: International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends-2021.

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The Struggling Adolescent
[WLOs: 2, 3] [CLO: 4]
Children and adolescents unable to make friends or join their peer groups experience tremendous risk for long-term psychosocial difficulties. Research demonstrates that peer groups reject approximately 6 to 11 percent of grade school children and nearly 20 percent of adolescents. Most students who drop out do so because of peer rejection (Santrock, 2023).

The Struggling Adolescent

In preparation for this assignment,

Read Chapter 9: Peers, Romantic Relationships, and Lifestyles.
Watch the following short film Nadia (2017) | Short Film (Links to an external site.) (up to minute 11) about a lonely and struggling teenager named Nadia. Take notes on the following questions from an educator’s perspective, such as a teacher, counselor, or other helping professional:
How does the adolescent disrupt the classroom or environment?
Do peers ignore, avoid, or reject Nadia?
How does Nadia initiate interaction with others? Are the initiations socially appropriate?
How does Nadia make requests or tactfully communicate preferences?
How does Nadia appropriately assert herself?
How does Nadia behave overly aggressive?
Review the provided writing template Download writing template.
In your paper,

Summarize your observation notes, correctly using at least two key terms from the text.
Be sure to bold or underline your key terms so they are easy to identify.
Discuss the factors that are contributing to Nadia’s situation. Why are these factors important for helping professionals to keep in mind?
Discuss the importance of friendship as well as how loneliness affects the developing adolescent.
Describe at least three strategies that might help Nadia improve her social skills and at least one strategy that might develop more supportive peer friendships.
The Struggling Adolescent paper

Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted

Be sure to bold or underline your key terms so they are easy to identify.