How can we define Adolescence?
Sometimes, you keep asking yourself how adolescent health can be promoted. As parents, there are a lot of changes you will see in your ward while they age. How then do you promote adolescent health?. This blog is focused on how adolescent health can be promoted.
This is the definition of adolescence.
Adolescence, by many scholars, is defined as the gradual transition from childhood to adulthood. Between the ages of 10 and 19, adolescence is the stage of life between childhood and adulthood. It is a distinct period in human development and crucial for setting the grounds for long-term health. Teenagers grow quickly in terms of their mental, physical, and emotional development. This has an impact on their emotions, thoughts, decisions, and interactions with others and their environment. The adolescent years are marked by a substantial amount of death, disease, and damage even though they are generally regarded as a healthy time of life. A lot of this can be avoided or treated. Adolescents develop patterns of behavior at this stage, such as those linked to nutrition, exercise, substance use, and sexual activity, which may either preserve their health and the health of others around them or immediately endanger it. However, in many countries, adolescence is only associated with puberty and the progression of physical changes that lead to reproductive maturity. In some cultures, adolescence is defined more broadly, taking into account not just the purely physical components of maturity but also the psychological, social, and moral circles. Adolescence, which in these civilizations is roughly equated to the word teenagers, is often used to describe the time between the ages of 12 and 20 in some countries. The most important aspect in the stages of Adolescence is maintaining Adolescence Health.
But let us ask ourselves the question, how can an individual in this stage of life maintain their Adolescence Health?
What is Adolescent Reproductive Health?
The general definition accepted for Adolescent Reproductive Health is that:
Adolescent sexual and reproductive health refers to teenagers' physical and mental well-being and encompasses their capacity to avoid unplanned pregnancy, unsafe abortion, STIs (including HIV/AIDS), and all types of sexual assault and coercion.
Due to the lack of knowledge on what Adolescent Reproductive Health is, in most parts of the world, teenagers get pregnant and in effect posses pressure on our social amenities, leading to rapid population growth in many communities. In Ghana for example.
How to Strengthen Adolescent Reproductive Health:
To strengthen adolescent reproductive health, individuals must develop and construct adolescent health programs, including health services, that better meet the needs of teenagers and eventually lead to healthier, more sustainable communities, data collecting and analysis must be improved. More information than ever before is available on teenage health, yet there are still some critical gaps. Additionally, the efforts made to gather data on adolescent health and the indicators utilized are frequently not standardized or applied consistently across populations and nations, which restricts the data's comparability, sharing, and application. There are several projects underway to deal with restrictions on the gathering, processing, and use of data, to effectively convey the data that is already accessible, and to monitor progress using an equitable lens. The Maternity Newborn Child and Adolescent Health (MNCAH) Data Portal was developed by WHO popular known as the World Health Organization and is the first thorough collection of data on demographics, mortality, morbidity, risk factors, coverage, and policy related to maternity, newborn, child, and adolescent health. It facilitates both global and national monitoring and aids in identifying and addressing shortcomings. Enhancing the assessment of adolescent health indicators and standardizing data collection and reporting are key UN initiatives. These are carried out in cooperation with the UNH6+ partnership, which consists of the World Bank Group, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, UNAIDS, and the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group. Last but not least, the World Health Organization monitors development in a few key areas of adolescent health with an emphasis on equality, in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goal of "leaving no one behind." this is as well studied in many schools across the world.
What really happens during the period of Adolescence?
Research has it that Adolescence brings up difficulties of emotional or if not physical distance from parents. The move to self-sufficiency puts a variety of adaptations upon many teenagers, despite the fact that this feeling of separation is an essential phase in the formation of personal values. Teenagers also frequently lack defined responsibilities in society, existing instead in a gray area between childhood and maturity. In Western societies, these problems mostly characterize adolescence, and how one responds to them influences the course of one's adult life. Following the latent sexuality of childhood, the person also experiences an increase in sexual emotions during adolescence. Adolescence is the time when a person learns to manage and guide their sexual urges. In the aspect of sexual urges, an adolescent needs to be really guided by parents and well-advised. Teenagers who lack parental guidance, especially in some remote parts of Africa, for example, Agbozume in the Volta Region of Ghana, get pregnant at very early stages, with no knowledge of being a mother. Most pregnancies in this part of Ghana and also in many undeveloped countries are rejected by the males responsible. Most kids grow up without whom to call their father. A very sad truth is that the basic amenities needed for the growth of these young ones are not available. According to several experts, the challenges of puberty have been overstated and for many teenagers, the process of maturation is essentially painless and trouble-free. Others view adolescence as a demanding and frequently difficult phase of development marked by a certain set of behaviors.
Below are some of the changes that occur during the Adolescent Stage
1. Transformational changes, both physical and psychological:
Teenagers have often been portrayed in generalizations as being rebellious, preoccupied, careless, and bold. Young people go through a lot of physical and social changes, which frequently makes it hard for them to know how to act. Young bodies get stronger throughout puberty and are loaded with hormones that generate suitable urges to ensure the survival of the species. Individuals are ultimately driven to achieve the goals of working toward a living and starting a family by acting on those impulses. In the past, many societies established official means for the elderly to assist young people in assuming their place in the community. The journey from infancy to maturity was aided by initiations and vision quests. The Dipo passage rites in Ghana for example is a life cycle ritual performed for transition into adulthood and other ceremonies or rites of passage are performed in most parts of the world as well. Let us then take a look at some examples of Passage Rights in the World
A. America Coming of Age Tradition known as Sweet Sixteen:
Research has it that the history of the Sweet 16 is asserted to some people that the birthday custom is a parody of the Mexican Quinceanera party, which marks a girl's coming-of-age and is celebrated on her fifteenth birthday. Others think the tradition's roots might be found in Medieval customs surrounding the first-time introduction of a young woman to suitors at court.
The fact is that your excited fifteen-year-old daughter probably doesn't care how this party got started if she lives at home. She probably already has a ton of Sweet 16 party suggestions in mind, from decorations to favors!
The sixteenth birthday is typically a teen's first opportunity to host a party that showcases their actual passions and character as mature persons. Additionally, it's the ideal chance to give your daughter a "big ticket" item like a car.
B. Khatam Al Koran Coming of Age of Tradition celebrated in Malaysia
For Malaysians, becoming an adult and participating in Khatam Al Koran, a distinguished ceremony that celebrates one's maturing adulthood at their local mosque, require circumcision for boys and reaching the age of 11 for girls. Girls study the Koran for years in order to be able to recite the last chapter in front of their friends and family during the event.
C. The Maasai in Tanzania and Kenya
There are various rites of passage that help
Maasai boys in Kenya and Tanzania transition into manhood. Boys between the
ages of 10 and 20 gather to become the new "warrior class" of the
tribe, living in dozens of cottages constructed especially for the event. The
lads spend the night in the forest sleeping outside before the ritual and then
return in the morning for a day of singing and dancing. They also eat a lot of
meat and drink a combination of wine, milk, and cow's blood. They are now
prepared to be circumcised, marking the beginning of their formal metamorphosis
into men, warriors, and protectors. The lads must not flinch, like with
previous rites of passage, because doing so would bring dishonor to their
family and diminish their fortitude. The lads will reside in a warrior's camp
for the next ten years, where they will pick up numerous trades. They have the
right to marry the woman of their choosing following the ritual that marks
their promotion from warrior to senior warrior.
D. Ghana's Dipo
The two-day Dipo ritual in Ghana is how the Krobo clan welcomes women into adulthood. As Dipo-yi, or initiates, young ladies who are all virgins are paraded about the neighborhood. They receive a ceremonial bath, consume sugar cane, sip an alcoholic concoction comprised of millet beer, palm wine, and schnapps, and have their feet "washed" with goat blood. Following these rituals, the women leave their village and spend a week in seclusion learning about birthing, cooking, housekeeping, and what they believe makes a good wife. They then go back to the neighborhood and dance the "klama" while just wearing a robe and wearing body paint and beads.
E. Vanatu Coming of Age Tradition by Land Divers
Fans of bungee jumping will appreciate this: in Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific, young boys become manhood by leaping off a 98-foot tower while holding onto a vine resembling a bungee cord linked to their ankles, just avoiding striking the ground. The problem? The vine is less elastic than a bungee cord, therefore even a small error in vine length might result in fatal injuries or shattered bones. Boys may leap from a shorter tower and usually start jumping around the age of 7 or 8.
Their mother will hold a sign of their youth during their first dive, and after the leap, the symbol will be thrown away to symbolize the end of childhood. As guys become older, they will jump from higher structures to show the public how manly they are.
F. Jewish Coming-of-Age Tradition by Bar and Bat Mitzvah
Around the time a boy turns 13, a Bar Mitzvah is held as a part of a synagogue ceremony. The boy reads from the Torah after spending a lot of time studying it in preparation for the ritual. For the first time, the boy dons tefillin.
The boy's family, as well as the rest of the community, are addressed by the rabbi during his speech. The young man could also address the crowd in a speech.
The boy's father is customarily expected to offer a prayer of gratitude to God for raising his kid to adulthood. A celebration dinner and presents are given to the boy.
Only the Reform and Liberal Jewish communities do the Bat Mitzvah. The event, which takes place around a girl's 12th birthday, has a similar structure to the Bar Mitzvah.
A girl may read from the Torah for her Bat Mitzvah or she may recite a prayer from the Siddur instead. Judaism has always held that men and women do not hold the same obligations. As a result, some Jewish communities have restrictions that are less rigorous for females than they are for boys, such as the necessity to read from the Torah.
There over hundreds of Adolescent Passage rites around our globe
The focus placed on teaching suitable clothes, manners, morals, and other behaviors befitting to adult status was a standout aspect of such coming-of-age celebrations.
2. Social restrictions:
Adolescence ought to be the best stage of life, biologically speaking. The teenage years are when the majority of physical and mental abilities, including quickness, strength, response time, and memory, are almost completely developed. New, radical, and diverse concepts can have a significant influence on the imagination throughout adolescence as well.
Teenagers are perhaps more resilient than anybody else, as evidenced by their extraordinary capacity to weather hardships and draw meaning from unpleasant experiences. Teenagers fully recover from negative moods, according to studies, in approximately half the time that adults do. Despite their fortitude, some teenagers find that these years are more trying than enjoyable, in part because of the constraints and limitations that frequently accompany this stage of life.
3. Lack of genuine accountability:
The adolescent market, which grew in importance throughout the decades of the 1950s, started to influence popular culture, including rock music, movies, television shows, and apparel. Indeed, the advent of teens as consumers with disposable income changed adolescence in those nations experiencing the post-World War II economic boom. Teenagers in the modern industrialized world have a dizzying assortment of consumer options, including television shows, movies, periodicals, CDs, cosmetics, computers and related items, clothing, sports shoes, jewelry, and games. However, despite the fact that many youths in these comparatively wealthy nations have an abundance of material amusements and distractions, they have few significant obligations, which stands in stark contrast to both their peers in nations where people are barely scraping by and to previous generations.
Now let us have a few glances at the Dangers that are likely to harm an adolescent
I. Sexual conduct especially due to lack of proper parental care and guide
II. Drug usage cigarette smoking which is mostly due to peer influence and Homelessness. Drug usage has destroyed the lives of many over the years. Cities have laid down principles to avoid the use of harmful narcotics in our society.
III. Aggression that is avoidable, including self-harm: An incident, I once came across was a young female who committed suicide due to a relationship breakdown. Most young ones, even the aged, commit suicide due to someone breaking their hearts. The suggestion I want to make here is that it is very important to establish more counseling centers that charge very little so the life of many can be saved.
Below are some of the various ways Adolescence Health can be promoted.
- To prevent young people from engaging in hazardous behaviors that can have a detrimental impact on their health, appropriate attention must be given to the promotion of adolescent and youth reproductive health.
- Adolescent health promotion may be done in many different ways, such as through peer education, community outreach, and family life education. Promotional events may be held in places like schools, the neighborhood, and your local health center.
- Teenagers should receive health promotion messages that are suitable for their age, living situation, and whether they are enrolled in school or not.
- By empowering young people with the information, abilities, and values needed to live healthy lives, peer education is one of the most successful techniques for enhancing their reproductive and sexual health outcomes.
- Adolescent family life education is a successful technique for promoting adolescent health. It offers information on the changes and developments that occur throughout puberty on the physical, mental, social, moral, behavioral, and affective fronts.
- One of the important tactics that should be utilized is to increase community awareness and encourage young people to behave positively in community discourse.
- Young adolescents (10–14) who live with their parents are more likely to have reproductive health issues, such as early marriage and pregnancy that result in challenging childbirth and subsequent consequences such as obstetric fistula. Additionally, they could encounter sexual violence (such as rape, polygamy, FGM, and kidnapping). Families must be encouraged to keep their wards protected
- Teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 suffer comparable hazards to their reproductive health, including rape, kidnapping, FGM, and polygamy. Although they are more likely to be married, if women become pregnant unintentionally, they may choose to risky abortion. Additionally, they have a higher risk of contracting STIs like HIV and AIDS. Therefore, there should be government aid and intervention safeguarding and protecting young ones from harm.
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