Aiden Aizumi

Professor Kennedy
EDUC 350
5/17/14

MVC Assignment 4
Age 15:
1.
What activities and experiences at ages 12 and 14 has your teen been involved in
that might promote healthy behavioral practices, physical fitness and skill in sports?
Jean is not the biggest fan of athletics. Although she played sports when she was
younger, between the ages of 12 14 she has not, and has been more focused on the
things she enjoys like music and singing. She is still active in other ways like,
playing tennis with her aunt, or going on walks with me and my partner. Even
though singing isnt a sport of physical fitness program, she is learning to be social,
and interact with her peers in a similar fashion because they have to all work
together as a team to sound good during performances.
2.
Have there been any changes in your teen's behavior toward you or your partner?
Why are these occurring and how are you responding?
There have not been huge changes in Jeans behavior towards my partner or myself.
She has made comments that we are cooler than other parents because we are not
so strict, which has started to lead to some changes in behavior because she thinks
she can get her way with us. Some of these changes may also be due to the fact that
she is still a teenager, and teenagers are going through so many bodily changes as
well as social changes with the coming of high school. When Jean does make
demands that are not appropriate for her age, I tend to just let her do what she
wants because I want to be the cool parent and not upset her.
3.
Do you see any examples of how cognitive and physical changes in early adolescence
(ages 12-14) relate to your teen's social or emotional behavior?

Jean is showing definite signs of cognitive and physical changes. During a chorus
competition, a competing schools team was caught shoplifting, and those people
were suspended from their chorus team. Jean felt that this was appropriate action
because they have let down people like their parents, teachers, and school. I
brought up the fact that there were also legal ramifications for these kids of actions,
but she felt that letting down these people was more important and outweighed any
laws. Jean is also starting to notice and have crushes on boys. Her sexuality is
starting to develop, and she wants to date a boy in her grade. He did end up asking
her out, and although I dont want Jean to do anything she is not comfortable doing
with her boy or feel pressure from the boy, he seems like a nice kid, and I want her
to have a sex positive mentality. I also dont want her to feel ashamed about her
body or about her sexuality, but I want a balance, and feel that 14 is too young to be
engaging in sex.
Age 16:
1.
Think about your teen's cognitive strengths and weaknesses and how they are
reflected in his or her school grades and activities from 14-16 years of age. What
careers or courses of study might be best suited to your teen's abilities and
interests?
Jeans cognitive strengths are around English Literature and Music. She has a
natural ability and a passion for playing the piano, and she can sing as well. Her
weaknesses are reflected in her science and art classes. She is not as strong in those
subjects and does not have the motivation for working on those subjects. She is
especially happy that in high school she can choose to do different classes than just
art to fulfill her requirements. Careers that maybe good for Jean are teaching music,
or English, as well as possibly writing music of her own.
2.
How important have your teen's relationships with peers been to his/her social
development, emotional well-being and school achievement from 14-16 years of
age?
Originally Jean was fairly quiet, and it took us coordinating or encouraging her to go
out or have friends over. Now that she is a teenager, she is spending more time with
her peers outside of school and going to the mall or movies. She doesnt want to
spend as much time at home, and would rather be out with them. I think that based
on my interactions with her she values her social relationships quite highly. Her
friends have been a support system for her although there are times that they may
cause emotional chaos, it is part of growing up and learning to interact with people

in socially acceptable ways. I think by having friends Jean is doing well in school
because she has people she can study with and people socially accept her.
3.

How has your teen adjusted at 14-16 years of age to typical adolescent issues such
as risk-taking, drugs, alcohol, and sexual interests, and how have you responded to
your teen?
Jean has started to experiment with more risky behavior. She is going to parties and
has now been caught drinking, and smoking pot. So far there havent been any
sexual interests outside of liking a boy, but I know they cant be far around the
corner. Unfortunately as a permissive parent, I decided that her hangover was a big
enough punishment, and when she was smoking pot, to just tell her not do to it too
much if she is going to at all.
Age 18:
1.
As the program ends, what pathways does your child appear to be on in terms of
physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral development? To what extent could
you have predicted these pathways based on what you knew of your child's earlier
development? Describe some specific ways in which you think your parenting
mattered for your child's development, based on evidence from the course
regarding the contributions of parents to child development.
I honestly expected my child to be on a much more destructive path compared to
what she has been like. She is academically very successful, and did very well
during high school with her grades. She even took some AP classes, and did well on
her ACT and SATs. I would say that cognitively, she developed all the skills she
should have and maybe excelled in some areas that her peers may not have. Socially
Jean adjusted very well from the shy and slow to warm up child. She has friends,
and interacts very positively with them, attending social events, and going to
parties. They even did a comedy routine during the senior talent show, and this
shows her comfort level performing in front of peers outside of her close friends.

Morally she had her mishaps like all teens do, and made some choices that were not
the best, but overall she is aware of the consequences of doing things that are not
okay, and that there is usually a punishment involved.
I think that as a parent, even though there was not a strict structure set up for her,
and I did let her get away with many things that other parenting styles would not
have, she still understood the importance of having good morals, and how to treat
people in a proper fashion. As much as I did not punish her or push her too hard,
she was ultimately very happy, and had enough structure that she could succeed,
and she was not left alone, or neglected, so she knew she had support at home.
2.
Describe some specific ways in which your child developed that appeared to be
influenced by factors outside your control, such as genes, random environmental
events or the general influence of contemporary middle-class American culture.
One way that Jean developed that were outside of my parenting style is her musical
talent. That is not something that I forced her into, but she had a natural talent for.
Another thing is her love of shopping and the mall with her girlfriends. This is very
much an influence of the middle-class American culture. She knew that we had
enough money that she could live a particular lifestyle that not all people can, and
she was definitely influence by the messages that young girls hear about their
bodies as she did mention she felt she was too fat.
3.
Bonus Question: Are there any issues you had with your parents, your school work,
your friends, or your romantic involvements in the last year of high school that
continued to be issues for you in college? Reflect on your own personality, interests
and cognitive abilities at the time you graduated high school. How did these
personality characteristics and abilities manifest themselves in subsequent years?
How have they changed since your high school days, if at all?
Honestly, it was so long ago, I dont really remember too many details. I do know
that I struggled, like most teens, in a power dynamic with my parents. I felt that I
was old enough to do things and didnt think I needed their permission, but looking
back I know that was not true. I was very shy and quiet and high school, and part of
that was my school was so competitive academically and I had a learning disability.
I always was scared to share and be wrong, and that carried over into the beginning
of my college education.