Adolescence is a critical time - it is just that simple. In homes across America, parents are feeling pressure to hurry up and prepare teens to be independent. In popular culture, teenagers are characterized as being all about hormones and rebellion. In reality, "adolescence" is a widening span of life from about age 12 to the early to mid-20s. It encompasses both "youth" and "emerging adulthood" and involves some of the most complex biological, cognitive and social changes in human development - second, perhaps, only to early childhood development. Policymakers should be applauded for their growing attention to, and investment in, early childhood programs, but they need reminding to also invest in the formative and critical period of adolescence.
On the one hand, puberty has crept ever younger, so adolescence begins earlier than ever. On the other hand, the age when young people attain self-sufficiency (completing education, supporting themselves, marrying, having children) has shifted later and later. Those in their late teens and early 20s often depend on their parents for longer periods (a trend exacerbated by the recession) or are floundering if they do not have a safety net. Those dependent on government services and programs find that these typically end at their 18th birthday. Recent brain research indicates that most people do not attain full maturity until their early to mid-20s. Society needs to keep pace with this new extended span of adolescence.
