Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN

The growing-up process is as difficult for parents as for children. Each has to learn as he goes. Usually the child fears that the parents won't permit him enough liberty to become an individual in his own right. The parent fears, however, that the child with his new liberty will become so different from his parents that they will be strangers. Thence comes the age-old generation gap, especially a problem in the teen years.

From twelve to fourteen years, identity is acquired along with a need to learn fidelity. Important physiological changes occur rapidly during this period, thrusting the youth into a preoccupation with his body and physical appearance. At this age, the youth is seeking someone to believe in and someone to whom he can be true.

During ages fifteen to eighteen, the younger person acquires a sense of intimacy and avoids isolation. These years help prepare him to learn to love and work. If he has not adequately identified himself and found his reason for being, he may be frustrated and depressed. These are years of extremely powerful physical urges and diverse moods. The path from here to adulthood will be difficult to tread. Ideally, by the time of adulthood, the child will have developed from a self-centered individual into a valuable contributor to the world in which he lives