Samantha Wardell

FHS 1500
Observation #4
Background information:
Childs age:
13 years old
Fictitious name: Nicole
Location:
Chick-Fil-A
Brief
I sat down with a friends niece to get some input on her experiences and
Description:
opinions on physical, cognitive, and social/emotional aspects of kids in this
age group. We met in a public place so she would feel more comfortable than
sitting in a room with just me and her while I asked her questions. I also
bought her some lunch for helping me out with this assignment
Physical Development
Nicoles physical appearance when I first saw her was that she did not look like she was
13. She looked like she was 18+ because she was pretty tall, taller than me even by about an inch
and she was a gorgeous girl. I could tell just by looking at her that puberty had to have kicked in
by now without even asking her. When I started to ask her about her physical development I
started out by asking about her friends so she would feel more comfortable. I asked her if the
majority of her friends have started their period already and asked how long ago she thought they
have started her period. Right away she began to talk about herself too. She told me that they all
started about the same time and told me that happened at the beginning of last year (so when she
was in 6th grade, but when she was 11). This told me that she started puberty, the time between
the first onrush of hormones and full adult physical development (Berger, 2014, p.319) at the
average time as everyone else. She wasnt an early or late bloomer. She was just right in the
middle between 8-14 years old. This is also referred to as her menarche. Menarche is a girls first
menstrual period, signaling that she has begun ovulation (Berger, 2014, p.319).
I also asked Nicole about her diet and what kinds of foods she eats on a regular basis.
She told me that she loves Ramen Noodles and Steak. She also told me that her mom doesnt
cook that often so they go out to eat a lot. Not a lot of fast food, but a lot of restaurants. She said
she likes to get steak when they go out to eat most of the time and she gets a side of fries or salad
depending on the day. We concluded that her nutrition is pretty good for the most part even
though she goes out to eat a lot (at least way better than my little sister who is the same age)
(Berger, 2014, p.327). I asked if she knew what her friends diet was like and if they ate well and
if she knew anyone that ate too much or too little. She told me about her old school and how the
kids there were really mean and the girls would bully her a ton and she finally had to end up
moving schools when we were talking about cognitive development. She brought this up again
and said that there was a really skinny girl and you could see her ribs and told me how everyone
was really rude to her too. She couldnt tell me why she was so skinny, but Im guessing the girl
was anorexic and was concerned about being fat, as most girls that age think they are fat because
theyre body is changing so much (Berger, 2014, 329). I talked to Nicole about this and
hypothesized with her that maybe the girl thought her body looked better like that even though
everyone else saw it differently. I asked Nicole how she felt about her own body and she seemed
pretty content with it. She didnt seem to think she was too fat or too skinny which was
AWESOME because tons of girls this age think they are fat when they have perfect bodies.

Cognitive Development
I started out by asking Nicole questions about the different fables and egocentrism
because this interests me so much. I asked her if she ever feels like everyone is watching
everything she does and if she feels like everyone is staring at her when she has a stain on her
face and told her that when I was her age and I would have a zit on my face I would feel like
everyone was watching me. I told her that so she would feel more comfortable and see that it is
normal to feel like everyone is watching you. She told me she feels like that all the time and that
one day her mom made her go to school before she had time to straighten her hair and she felt so
insecure all day because she felt like everyone was watching her. This is called imaginary
audience when you feel like everyone is watching and judging what you look like, your ideas,
and your behavior (Berger, 2014, p.333). I asked her if she ever feels like bad stuff will only
happen to other people and not her and she brought up the news and how when bad stuff happens
she gets scared because she thinks her house might get robbed or she could get kidnapped
walking alone in her neighborhood. From what she told me, it seemed like Invincibility fable did
not apply to her (Berger, 2014, p.333). Adolescent egocentrism also seemed like it didnt apply to
her because she couldnt think of a time when she only cared about herself and not others
(Berger, 2014. p.333). She is a super sweet and caring girl who thinks of others a lot before
thinking of herself and I think this is because she was bullied at her old school and knows how it
feels when others arent thinking of your feelings which I found out when I asked her if she
knew anyone who has been bullied or knew anyone who was a bully to try to talk about cyber
bullying.
To my surprise, I found out that not only did Nicole know someone who was bullied, but
it was herself. This sweet gorgeous girl in front of me was bullied by girls at her old school so
much that she had to switch girls all together. This took me by surprise because when I think
about a child who is going to be bullied, I think of an outcast and Nicole didnt look like and
outcast to me. She told me that the girls at her school would tease her all the time at school and
they created an Instagram using Nicoles name and would post all sorts of mean, embarrassing
pictures on there that they would take of her at school with rude captions. Nicole had an
Instagram of her own so she saw all this rude stuff they were doing, so her parents made her
delete her Instagram to help protect her from the cyberbullying going on (Berger, 2014, p.343). I
felt so bad for Nicole and couldnt believe that middle school girls would do this (Berger, 2014,
p.340). I couldnt help but think they did this because they were jealous of how pretty and
already developed this 13 year old girl was.
Social/Emotional Development
I asked Nicole what her parents were like and if they were strict or not. I asked her if they
would ever nag her about chores, or picking up her room, or brushing her teeth or hair (because
my parents are always nagging my little sister to brush her teeth and hair who is the same age),
or about grades, etc. She told me that they do it all the time with chores but she never has a
problem with the cleanliness part of it which includes hair and teeth brushing. She told me they
do have to get at her little sister sometimes for not brushing her hair. I told her my parents would
bicker with me all the time too when I was younger and they still do now that Im 20 too (Berger,
2014, p.361). I asked her if her parents would monitor what she is doing a lot and ask her
questions about what she is doing, where she is going, and who is she going to be with (Berger,

2014, p.363). I told her my parents did this a lot more with my older sisters but not as much
with me. She is the oldest of 2 and she said that her parents are constantly doing this and when I
asked she told me she thinks they are doing it out of love not because they are nosy and
suspicious.
I asked her about her school and if they had certain cliques there. She gave me a list like
the one we made in class of different cliques which are groups of friends of adolescents made up
of close friends who are loyal to each other and exclude outsiders (Berger, 2014, p.365). What
was interesting though was that when I asked her which clique she belonged to she told me well
I dont really have a clique, I hangout with a lot of different people. I related this to my
experience at Hillcrest where there were a lot of different crowds (Berger, 2014, p.365), but
everyone sort of hungout with everyone. I asked her if this is how her school was and she told
me it was. So she didnt really have any cliques at her school, just different crowds where
everyone hungout with everyone.

Sources
Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Lifespan: With Dsm5 Update. 2nd ed. S.l.:
Worth Pub, 2014. Print.