What Does Adolescent Really Mean?

Physiological viewpoint

From the physiological perspective, adolescence refers to the stage after childhood and before adulthood. In this stage, rapid physical development occurs. Changes in the outward appearances of people are obvious as their bodies grow and change rapidly. Reproductive organs become functional and the production of large amounts of male and female hormones according to gender starts. The bones, physique and other organs of the person rapidly grow and reach a stage of maturity. Facial hair begins to grow for boys, and ejaculation and wet dreams start to occur. Girls’ breasts start to grow larger and menstruation begins.

Psychological viewpoint

From the psychological viewpoint, adolescents are mature emotionally and intellectually in a certain extent. Compared with children, they have a deeper knowledge of themselves and their social environment because their psychological development diversifies as they grow physically while adapting to social expectations. They can think independently, rely less on others, and have personal opinions and objective views on events. They also have the ability to think logically and abstractly. In short, their intellect gradually matures.

Sociological viewpoint

The sociological viewpoint generally regards adolescence as a transitional period from childhood to adulthood, in which people leave the stage of being protected but do not possess the decision-making power and independence of adults yet. Different social groups define an adolescent differently due to social changes and different values. Some social groups have ceremonies or rituals to celebrate a person’s comming of age. At that time, adolescence ends and that person enters adulthood.

Age and legal viewpoints

In the legal viewpoint, different regions have set different legal ages of adolescents. In Hong Kong, the age of majority is 18, and people receive their adult identity card when they reach 18. The Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance protects people under the age of 18. However, the children and youth service centres in Hong Kong view people between 6 and 24 as their target subjects. The Outstanding Young Persons Selection has 40 as the age limit. Thus, there is no one definite standard age to define an adolescent in Hong Kong.

Using any one of the abovementioned viewpoints alone to define an adolescent is incomprehensive. It is because each viewpoint individually cannot adequately reflect the actual physiological and psychological transformation of, as well as the society’s expectations and aspirations on adolescents. Adolescents nowadays are more mature than their counterparts in the past with one of the reasons being the advancement of digital media, which help adolescents gain access to outside sources of information more easily. Also, society’s expectations on adolescents are lowered. For example, teachers and elders are more understanding and accommodating to adolescents nowadays and are more active in helping them solve problems.