Alexandria Dean

EDU 220
Case Study of a
Spring 2019 Child Age 12
 Brief Overview of a 12-year-old Development
Physical Development:
• Breasts fully develop
between ages 12-18
• Average age of
menstruation in the US is
12 years old
• Growth spurts start
around age 12
Emotional Development
• Directs verbal anger at
figures of authority
• Commonly sulks
• Worries about
• Grades
• Appearance
• popularity
Moral/Character
Developments:
• Knows right from wrong
Cognitive/Intellectual • Concerned about fair
Development: treatment of others
• Thrives on arguments • Unlikely to lie
• Able to memorize
• May read a lot
Psychosocial/Social
• Needs to feel important
Development:
in the world
• Withdraws from parents
• Needs to believe in
• Rebels
something
• Needs less family
interactions
• Annoyed by younger
siblings
 Typical Physical Development of a 12 year old

• Children tend to experience sudden and rapid increases in weight and height
• Girls are gradually reaching physical and sexual maturity
• Acne begins to appear
• Concerned with appearance

(UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1993)

(Medline, 2017)
 Typical Physical Development According to
Snowman
• Physical growth tends to be rapid and uneven
• Pubertal development happens in almost all girls and a lot of boys
• Concern and curiosity about sex are going to happen

(SNOWMAN, J. & MCCOWN, R., 2013, P. 93-95)

 Physical Development Observations of a 12-
year-old
The child I observed seemed to be slightly shorter than most girls her age. She has
not started to get acne. Being a very active child, her weight doesn't fluctuate much.
She spends just as much in sports as she does in the classroom. You can tell that she
is slowly starting to be concerned with her appearance. She'll fix her hair often and
won't wear certain things depending on how they look.
Physical Development Recommendations
• Make sure that she feels comfortable in her own
skin
• Don't dismiss the feelings of appearance issues
 Typical Emotional Development of a
12-year-old
• Children this age tend to sulk
• They direct verbal anger at authority figures
• Teachers, parents, etc.
• Start to worry a lot
• Grades, appearance, and popularity
• Is withdrawn and introspective

(UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1993)

(Medline, 2017)
Typical Emotional Development According to
Snowman
• Feelings of confusion, anxiety, or depression
• Extreme mood swings
• Low levels of self-confidence

(SNOWMAN, J. & MCCOWN, R., 2013, P. 97-98 )

 Emotional Development of a 12-year-old
Observations
While she doesn't seem to get verbally angry often, she'll respond harshly when
it comes to defending herself. For example, at track practice, when her coach
told the team that they needed to try to be at practice every day she responded
aggressively with "But you know I can't on Tuesdays!" She seems to worry a lot
about grades and her peers. I noticed that she was stressed because she didn't
have all A's because she missed two days of school for being sick and got
behind. I also noticed that she worried about what other kids were doing.
 Emotional Development Recommendations
• Talk with her to make sure that she understands how it isn't always "what
you say it's how you say it"
• Work on coping skills for what to do when she gets overly stressed
• Encourage, encourage, encourage
• Don't respond too harshly when she responds harshly to adults, instead stay
calm and show her love
Typical Cognitive/Intellectual Development of
a 12-year-old
• They tend to thrive on arguments and discussions
• They're increasingly able to memorize, think logically, engage in introspection and
probing in own thinking, and to plan realistically for the future
• May tend to read a lot at this age
• They need to feel important and believe in something

(UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1993)

(Medline, 2017)
 Typical Cognitive/Intellectual Development
According to Piaget & Vygotsky: Formal
Operational Stage
• Able to:
• deal with abstractions
• form hypotheses
• solve, problems systematically
• engage in mental manipulation

(SNOWMAN, J. & MCCOWN, R., 2013, P. 43)

 Cognitive/Intellectual Development of a
12-year-old Observations
She loves to read. I noticed that she knows the words to almost any song you
play which makes me think that she is able to memorize things really well. I also
noticed that she is very passionate. She knows what she believes in and sticks to
it. Whether it comes to the people she cares about, her religion, or the issues
she faces, she does whatever she has to make sure things are right.
 Cognitive/Intellectual Development
Recommendations
• Encourage reading
• Let them debate
• Encourage and support what's important to them
• Help them find a cause to be invested in and help them support them
 Typical Psychosocial/Social Development of a
12-year-old
• They start to become their own person and withdraw from their parents
• They usually rebel because they feel their parents are too restrictive
• They need fewer family interaction and companionship
• Tends to have a "gang" of friends
• Annoyed by younger siblings
• Girls show more interest in opposite sex than boys do

(UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1993)

(Medline, 2017)
 Typical Psychosocial/Social Development
According to Erikson: Identity v. Role
Confusion
• Roles and skills to help adolescents take a place in adult life
• Role confusion is an issue
• They slowly start to know who they are

(SNOWMAN, J. & MCCOWN, R., 2013, P. 30)

 Psychosocial/Social Development of a
12-year-old Observations
I noticed that she still enjoys to hang out with her parents, however, she's
beginning to realize she can do things by herself. She wants to be able to do
everything by herself and be independent. I didn't notice any "rebelling" per se,
however, I did realize that she'll spend time on her phone even when with
family. She seems to be drifting from one friend to her "group of girls." She
also is starting to become interested in boys. She talks a lot about a specific boy
that she swears she doesn't like because he's "annoying and rude," but she
spends a lot of time with him.
 Psychosocial/Social Development
Recommendations
• Make sure they have a welcoming, responsible adult to talk to about
problems
• Don't dismiss feels of anger or issues with friends
• Don't be a "push over", but try to give me a little more freedom to prevent
rebelling
 Typical Moral/Character Development of a
12-year-old
• Knows right from wrong
• Tries to weigh alternatives and arrive at decisions alone
• Tend to be concerned about the fair treatment of others
• Usually reasonably thoughtful
• Unlikely to lie

(UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 1993)

(Medline, 2017)
 Typical Moral/Character Development
According to Piaget, Kohlberg, & Gilligan:
Morality of Cooperation
• Able to generalize and engage trial and error mentally
• Formal operations
• Conform to conventions of society
• Fixed rules must be established and enforced

(SNOWMAN, J. & MCCOWN, R., 2013, P. 60)

 Moral/Character Development of a
12-year-old Observations
You can tell that she knows what she's supposed to do. She knows that her
homework needs to get done, so she makes sure it's done every day. She does
however, try to do everything by herself. When she was complaining about
being behind in a class and help was offered, she said she "has it under
control." She seems to lie a little, but not a huge amount. She tries really had to
make sure that the rules are followed, especially when it comes to sports. She
gets really upset when people aren't doing what they're supposed to.
 Moral/Character Development
Recommendations
• Realize that they'll try to do everything on their own, but encourage them to
ask for help and make sure it isn't a sign of weakness
• Help them realize they can't control others, and that just because someone is
being bad doesn't mean they're bad for letting it
 References
Medline (2017). Adolescent Development. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/0
02003.htm
Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching, 14th
ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
University of Washington. (1993). Children development: Using the child development guide. Retrieved
from http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/cdevguid/cdg14.htm#EMOTIO
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