Adolescence

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, adolescence is the period of life

from puberty to maturity terminating legally at the age of majority. In addition, Esmilla
and Cortez (2009) stated in their HELE for Keeps workbook that there are many changes
experienced by an adolescent. First of the many changes is the physical changes or
puberty. Furthermore, puberty it is when one's reproductive system and sexual instincts
begin to develop and become active. Www.medicalnewstoday.com (2009) stated in their
site that a girl's puberty general spans from 9 to 14. On the other hand, a boy's puberty
generally spans from the ages of 10 to 17. Experts say this longer span is probably why
adult males are generally taller than adult females. Thus, some people undergo into
adolescence at a very young age.
Adolescence begins with the onset of physiologically normal puberty, and ends
when an adult identity and behavior are accepted. In addition, World Health Organization
(2014) stated that adolescence is the period in human growth and development that
occurs after childhood and before adulthood, from ages 10 to19. It represents one of the
critical transitions in the life span and is characterized by a tremendous pace in growth
and change that is second only to that of infancy.
In our study, it is seen that there are eleven and twelve year olds used as
respondents. We, the researchers, categorized them as adolescents since they are in the
expected age of undergoing into puberty which is the first part of adolescence.