Running head: P.E.P.S.I.

Of Daniel Nicolas

P.E.P.S.I. Of Daniel Nicolas

Allan Smith
College of Southern Nevada

P.E.P.S.I. Of Daniel Nicolas

Biography

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Daniel is 14 years old and the oldest of four children in a mixed race family. The three
oldest are boys and the youngest sibling is a girl. Daniel comes from a mixed cultural
background, his mother is fifteenth generations white European American and his father is
second generation Philippine American. Both parents speak predominately English with no
other language being taught in the house. Daniel has been bought up in the LDS religion and
attends regular public school in Las Vegas. Daniels parents are still married after 19 years and
are living in the same house. Daniels father is a mechanical engineer working for Nevada
Energy and his mother has been a stay at home mom for the majority of the time with a high
aptitude towards English and critical writing. Daniels hobbies include playing sports indoors and
out and loves computer video games. Both parents are active and love sports and are sure to
include their children in such activities. Daniels brother has autism which has given him a great
outlook on others with learning disabilities and empathy for those struggling. Daniel is highly
intelligent and scores very high grades in school as well as very athletic which helps him excel in
sports.

Physical Development
According to the Body Mass Index put out by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) says
that Daniel rates within the 57th percentile for boys at fourteen years of age. They say that he is

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of healthy weight for his age group. Which makes sense due to the fact he weighs 126 pounds
and is 5ft 7in tall. Daniel loves to play sports and is very active to the point he likes to show off
and is always attempting to outperform others. Childrens pediatrics of Texas states on their
website that boys this age will be experiencing physical changes such as testicular growth, voice
changes, pubic hair, and wet dreams (Texas 2015). Since I am not a doctor I felt it best not to
ask for that information as it would be too personal. Daniel has not reported extreme growth
spurts just normal growth. Daniel is extremely athletic and always up for an activity including
sports and physical challenges. He has the physical and mental agility that coaches will look for
when choosing a captain.

Emotional Development
I asked Daniel a series of questions I had found from Texas Childrens Pediatrics but at
the same time let his mother chime in due to the fact that she has been the biggest observer in his
life. Some of the questions are about mood and behavior so parents can monitor their child

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(Texas 2015). His mother has observed recent moody behavior from Daniel as well as a need for
privacy. His parents have just moved him into his own room for the first time so he could have
some privacy. Daniel doesn't struggle with his identity and feels comfortable with the friends he
makes. He does show extreme anxiety towards academic success and test taking but this is
partially due to the heavy pressures put on him by his parents to perform well in school. Daniels
mother says that he is a very obedient child and does not stray from the rules. The CDC has
suggested to the parents to be mindful to the changes happening in their teenagers life and to
realize how big of a change this will be for their son due to increased levels of hormones (CDC
2015).
Daniel will soon be coming into stage five of Eriksons stages of personal and social
development which is Identity vs. Role Confusion (Slavin 2015). With more personal time he
will spend it reflecting on his role in society amongst his friends as well as within his own
family. This is typical for children between the ages of twelve and eighteen.

Philosophical Development
To find out where Daniel stands philosophically I checked him against Kohlberg's stages
of moral development (Slavin 2015). To do that I showed him a video on YouTube that deals
with the Heinz dilemma. The example has a man with a dying wife and in this scenario you
must choose between letting your wife die from a curable disease or steal the cure from an
overcharged pharmaceutical company (FuiFilms 2012). Daniel chose the second option which

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was to not steal the drugs as that would be breaking the law. This coincides with stage four, Law
and Order Orientation, which is in the conventional level. Daniel sees rules as the governing
body and that people should obey those rules as to not disrupt the normal order of society. At
this age of his life he is developing cognitive thinking skills which will push past the events of
the now and will start to show Daniel that there are long term consequences to their actions
(Texas 2015). Daniel has grown up religious but with most young adults he is going through a
stage of questioning but willing to accept answers just because they are given by an authoritative
person.

Social Development
As they start to move from childhood into adulthood, adolescents feel the urge to be more
independent from their families (CDC 2015). Often, friends replace parents as a source of
advice. When at home, adolescents may prefer spending time alone to being part of the family.
Still, family support is important to help them build a strong sense of self. Texas Children's
Pediatrics (TCP) has a check list of things to be aware of for parents to observe (Texas 2015).

P.E.P.S.I. Of Daniel Nicolas

Daniel has become increasingly self-sufficient and is now left at home at times to babysit his

younger siblings while his parents are out. Daniel's friends mirror the same values and attributes
taught to him by his own family. Daniel has little to no preoccupation of his appearance which
could mean he hasn't reached full puberty levels or the fact that boys tend to care less about
appearance than girls at this age due to social norms. (TCP) also states that this is the time in a
child's life that peer pressure is at its highest levels and that this is the age where they may be
pressured into taking drugs or trying other risky behaviors by their friends. Erikson would place
him right now in stage 4 on his way to stage 5 due to his belief in law and order concepts (Slavin
2015).

Intellectual Development
Daniel is extremely intelligent for his age and excels in all of his classes. He has a strong
ability for complex thoughts and a deeper sense between right and wrong. Daniel is outgrowing
what Piaget described as heteronomous morality and developing more of an autonomous
morality like behavior. This means he understands the rules but he can also see why some rules
can or should be broken. As children get older they start to understand that the world is not only
black and white but various shades of each (Slavin 2015). This second stage that Piaget
describes comes with empathy and one usually does not understand that level unless they have

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experienced it within their own life. Daniel has deep empathy towards others that struggle since
his brother right underneath him has mild autism. He has learned patience and understanding
that some grown adults don't possess due to this experience. Daniel has always striven for
perfection due to his parents and has even brought up jokingly the expectations of an Asian
parent that expects nothing but the best from their child.

Recommendations
Daniel is doing just fine in all areas and I have no suggestions at this time as to what
would help him improve in any areas. As it is now he stands amongst the highest percentiles in
all areas tasked. He is developing very nicely in all areas and to alter any of it would be
unnecessary. Many websites do offer tips where parents could check in on their own childs
development from time to time to make sure their child is on track. As for Daniel he is doing
great and his parents are doing a wonderful job on raising him. Daniel is now looking forward to
participating in after school curriculum like boys volleyball and football. These things will help
Daniel maintain physical fitness as he continues to grow older and develop.

P.E.P.S.I. Of Daniel Nicolas

Graphs

P.E.P.S.I. Of Daniel Nicolas

References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). Young Teens (12-14 years of age). Retrieved
from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence.html

ExRx (2015). Youth Fitness Test Norms. Retrieved from

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/YouthNorms.html

FuiFilms (2012). Heinz Dilemma - Kohlberg's stages of Moral Development (Animation).

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxJ07klMhr0
Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Retrieved from
http://view.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launcheText.do?
values=launchedfrombookshelf::Y::bookID::45914::languageid::1::sessionID::14202896
514425793142016::scenario::1::launchState::goToEBook::invokeType::lms::scenarioid::s
cenario1::smsUserID::72993495::fromloginpage::Y::platform::::uid::20160127171842::u
bd::20160127173332::ubsd::20160127173332::hsid::b30f8c14ebf7fbe42f2731a37fb8831
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Texas Children's Pediatrics (2015). Parent Resources. Retrieved from
http://www.texaschildrenspediatrics.org/12-14-Years/
Web MD (2016). Growth and Development, Ages 11 to 14 Years - Topic Overview. Retrieved
from http://www.webmd.com/children/tc/growth-and-development-ages-11-to-14-yearsoverview

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