Clinical I DB. Week 3

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Student 1 Response. G. Marcano

In his ambitious Tedtalk, Laurence Lewars poses two primary questions to his adolescent peers. His two main questions were, “What do you see yourself doing fifteen years from now, followed up by, “ What would you be doing fifteen years from now if you could do absolutely anything?”. His questions address the development of self esteem, and dive into the topics of self belief and what he considers to be a lack of self fulfillment in teens. He ponders why adolescents such as himself are too insecure to talk about their aspirations and acknowledge that adolescence is a period marked by a struggle to find a sense of significance versus intense feelings of insecurity about their place in the world.

Lewars’ ted talk is directly aligned to themes of the development theorists’ perspective in the sixth chapter of Human Behavior: The Changing Life Life Course. Janet Kroger, like Lewars suggests that many societies social norms are clear about staying away from substance use, early unwed pregnancy and delinquency. The same societies are less clear about what constitutes a positive achievement and how exactly to go about achieving them. If I were to draw from just one theorist from our text on the life stage of adolescence, I would select Erikson. Erikson’s stage of Identity versus Role diffusion. Erikson describes adolescence as a stage of defining your sense of self and your role in the world. In order to find their unique place in the role, an adolescent has to participate in role experimentation. She/He has to explore different social interactions, groups and relationships in order to find a sense of self. According to Erikson, we create a “generalized other”, of how others are most likely going to respond to us. Adolescents learn who they are through this internal struggle of balancing who their parents, peers think they should be versus who they feel that they are and whom they desire to be.

Lewars’ survey is ambitious and thoughtful. I applaud him for being able to exercise the abstract thinking of Piaget’s formal operations. Constructively, I think that Lewars would benefit from always keeping in mind that his peers are in a stage of development where this type of thinking is still in its developmental phase. As Hall pointed out, his peers are going through a transitions full of storm and stress. His survey might benefit from interviewing those same adolescence further down the road in an “adult” stage of development. His survey seems to also be primary at his own school, or conducted through an internet survey. Not all adolescents in the world, have access to the World Wide Web.

If I were to answer Lewars questions as an adolescent, my answer to what I thought I would be doing would be, “ a psychologist”. My answer to what I what I think I would do if I can do anything, would be to be dancer. Now my answers to the same question would be to help others, by using my own experiences, life lessons, and formal education. And my answer to the same question if I could do absolutely anything, would be to help others through my own experiences, life lessons, and formal education minus the student loan debt all while dancing, maintaining my spirituality, a healthy family life and a level of contentment.

Hey, Lewars told me to aim for it all.

Student 2 Responses. J. Montalvo

During adolescence, children continue to grow physically, cognitively, and emotionally, changing from a child into an adult. At the same time, as adolescents develop reasoning and a stronger sense of self, they seek acceptance from their peers by developing significant relationships with people other than their parents.

In his speech, Laurence Lewars asked two significant questions to his fellow adolescent peers: “what do you see yourself doing 15 years from now?” and “what would you be doing fifteen years from now if you could do absolutely anything?” His questions are important when working with teenagers because it allows them to think about their goals and dreams and allows them to hear (out loud) what their sense of self-belief and self- worth is.

Marcia’s Ego Identity Statuses, I believe best describes stages during adolescence. As Lewars pointed out, developing teens are undergoing a process to figure out who they truly are and have yet to determine what their identity is, which is an example of Identity Diffusion. Identity foreclosure is also a point that Lewars touched on in the video. He mentioned that many teens choose between three career paths (doctor, engineer or lawyer) because they are set to believe from a young age that those are the careers that will make them successful in life. When Lewars asked the questions in the beginning about what his peers see themselves doing in 15 years if they could do anything, some did not change their answers from the original question, which is an example of adolescents at the Identity Achievement stage. Those teens were likely able to sort out who they want to be and determine what their life's purpose was.

Lewars’ action plan to have parents ask their adolescents the two main questions, I believe is brilliant, as it lets them know that you are interested in what their goals are in life. One thing that may hinder the change is that the age gap in adolescence is pretty wide (I believe it’s 10-19 years old), so depending on what age you ask the questions, you may not receive a clear answer, as children’s minds are not fully developed.

When I was an adolescent, I saw myself as a doctor, specifically a pediatrician. Looking back, I agree with Lewars, regarding the positive reactions one receives when choosing this type of profession. I do not have a passion for biology (and find it quite boring to be honest) so being a doctor was out of the question for me. In 15 years, if I could do absolutely anything, I see myself traveling all over the world, and learning the different about the different kinds of cultures.