Chapter+2+Puberty+and+Biology

Teens in Fiction
The Baker family, depicted in the movie "Cheaper By The Dozen," moved from the country side to the upscale suburbs of Chicago, which is in itself traumatic for adolescents. Sarah Baker (Alyson Stoner) plays one of the middle children of the Baker's. Sarah portray's a teen who struggles with the move socially, but more importantly, really demonstrates the trials of a young female trying to fit in by changing her "tom boy" image to a young lady. Sarah is seen asking her older sisters for help with her dress, make-up, and etiquette as she prepares for her "first date." (John Barron)


 * [[image:are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret1.jpg width="160" height="213" caption="Original Cover for Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"]] ||

//[|Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret]//by [|Judy Blume]describes the challenges [|faced] by a sixth grade girl over the course of year. She and her friends, Gretchen, Nancy and Janie hang out regularly to talk about boys as well as the changes that are occurring in their bodies. These discussion includes several "rules." The girls must all start wearing bras and they do weekly bra checks. They make a pack to contact each other as soon as they experience [|menarche]. Over the course of the book, Margaret is also experimenting with her spiritual identity. She has several conversations with God, many of which are about changes from puberty. This is on Judy Blume's most well known books. The discussion of religion and puberty has caused this book to be challenged and banned. Despite the controversies that surround this book, it is a delight to read and it provides the reader with a glimpse of the turmoil of being of twelve year old girl. (Emily Grace)



American Beauty by Alan Ball. Angela Hayes is a high school student. She is a popular girl with high self-esteem in school. One day she is introduced to her friend's father,Lester. Lester is very interested in Angela and later on they become involved. In this movie, this main character represents a value of beauty in society. Physical appearances are important. Even though Angela is only 16 years old, but beauty makes Lester fall for her. Angela seems to be proud of herself and wants to be accepted in society as "perfect". (Gik)


 * //Thirteen //**

The 2003 film //[|Thirteen]//, tells the story of thirteen-year-old Tracy Freeland who undergoes a whirlwind transformation from honor student to manipulative, wild child through the course of the film. Co-written by Catherine Hardwick and actress Nikki Reed, the film is said to document a year in the life of Reed who dealt much of the films difficult subject matter during her adolescence. Thirteen is filmed in a very real, gritty manner and some of the scenes are somewhat startling, especially as they portray thirteen-year-olds in very adult situations. Because of such scenes, Thirteen raised a lot of controversy when the film was released.

Tracy deals with many difficult issues in this movie including handling the stress of her parents divorce by cutting herself, being taunted by classmates at school for the way she looks, and trying to shed her little girl image. As she becomes friends with a popular classmate named Evie who later moves in with Tracy and her family, Tracy begins dressing more provocatively in an attempt to look older, shoplifting, abandoning her homework, and even dallies in alcohol, drugs, and oral sex. Although she goes along with much of this behavior under the influence of Evie, Tracy is not completely comfortable with her new identity. When Tracy’s mom finally realizes the harmful affect Evie is having on her daughter, she brings Evie back to live with her foster mom. As a result, Evie no longer talks to Tracy at school. Additionally, Tracy is told she may not pass seventh grade because she has been neglecting her schoolwork for so long. After an angry and emotional confrontation between Tracy, her mother, Evie, and Evie’s foster mother, Tracy’s cutting habits and other secrets are exposed. Tracy’s mother finally realizes just how troubled her daughter is and how much help she needs to get through this difficult time in her life, ending the film on a hopeful note after much adolescent turbulence.(Caitlin)

**Sisters Protect Siblings from Depression, Study Shows**
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ScienceDaily (Aug.2, 2010)-- Something about having a sister--even a little sister-- makes 10 to 14 year-olds a bit less likely to feel down in the dumps.

This study conducted by Laura Padilla-Walker of Brigham Young University helps identify the influence that siblings and parents have within the family unit. This study included 395 families with at least one or more children between the ages of 10 and 14. "After the inital study there was a one year follow up on the families in which it was determined that having a sister protected adolescents from feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-concious and fearful." (Padlla-Walker, 2010). (Katie)

Brigham Young University (2010, August 2). Sisters protect sislings from depression, study shows. //ScienceDaily//. Retrieved January 23, 2011 from [|www.sciencedaily.com]

=Site in Brain Where Leptin May Trigger Puberty Identified= [] [] ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2010) — UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have pinpointed a tiny site in the brain where the hormone leptin may help trigger the onset of puberty. Researchers have recognized that puberty starts when adolescents have accumulated enough fat to meet the requirements of reproduction, and that leptin which is a hormone produced by fat cells that does something in the brain to act as a go-between, but researchers are not sure of the exact place in the brain where leptin exercises this effect. (miranda houston) = Teens With More Screen Time Have Lower-Quality Relationships ( [] )  =

ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2010) — Teens who spend more time watching television or using computers appear to have poorer relationships with their parents and peers.

This research study was performed by Rosalina Richards, Ph.D., of the University of Otago in New Zealand. Groups of teens ranging in ages from 14-15 were surveyed to determine if the amount of time watching television or using computers had an impact on their social relationships. It was determined that the more time spent in front of the television or computer had a negative impact on the quality of relationships. For example teens that ate meals in thier bedrooms in front of the television had poorer relationships with their parents. (Mary)

JAMA and Archives Journals (2010, March 2). Teens with more screen time have lower-quality relationships. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January.

**One in Five Children Meets the Criteria of Having a Mental Disorder**
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An article from sciencedaily.com dated October of 2010 reports approximately 1 in 5 children will be identified as having some type of mental disorder to the degree where it interrupts daily functioning. This study was fairly innovative because of the difficulty involved with diagnosing mental health issues during the maturation process. Further the study found that the most prevalent disorders among the individuals with some type of mental health issue were anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and substance abuse. Reduced research budgets and current economic state seems to have some ties to the function of this study. Regarding this the author states, "In an era when funding allocations for science are being reduced, evaluation of nationally representative samples of children and adolescents are critical in providing the necessary information for establishing priorities for prevention, treatment, and research." (Elsevier, 2010). (Joel)

Elsevier (2010, October 13). One in five children meets criteria for a mental disorder across their lifetime, national U.S. study shows.//ScienceDaily//. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2010/10/101013121606.htm

=Earlier, Later Puberty May Trigger Aggression in Boys, Researchers Find= []

A recent study highlighted in ScienceDaily looked at early and late onsets of puberty and the potential connection it has on aggression in boys. The researchers looked at several indicators: "cortisol, a stress hormone, and salivary alpha amylase, an enzyme in saliva used as an indicator of stress" (Penn State, 2010). The research cited by Penn State (2010) identified a connection between "lower levels of the alpha amylase in boys who experienced earlier maturity and higher levels of cortisol in boys who experienced later maturity" have a greater occurrence of antisocial behaviors. While it would seem that more studies of this nature need to be conducted to verify the findings, this study could greatly benefit the parents of boys who have a family history of aggression and other antisocial behaviors. This has the potential to act as a warning sign for parents to seek counseling services for their children so any antisocial behaviors can be addressed in a timely manner. This is the first study of it's kind. (Jason Pickler)

Penn State (2010, May 3). Earlier, later puberty may trigger aggression in boys, researchers find. //ScienceDaily//. Retrieved January 25, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/05/100503111750.htm

Web Links
Puberty and Children with Special Needs

By Melanie G. Snyder

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Since the class has a lot of Special Education Grad students, I decided that I would look for a link that specialized in discussing the different challenges that children with special needs have during puberty. I found many forums that have good and bad ideas that would have to be weeded through. I ended up finding this pdf file from an article from Celebrating Special Children. I hope you can find it useful to read and see where the few distinct differences are and where all teens are all alike. (BradH)


 * Teen Body Image**
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A short video about research done at Penn State’s Department of Sociology finds that more teens are dealing with self-image anxiety. In the class text we read that some psychological changes that occur in adolescents are that of body image and gender differences. Girls can become dissatisfied with their bodies from an increase in their body fat, while boys were satisfied maybe due to their muscle mass increase. This video reveals that in adolescent’s physical appearance plays into the social life. It is not just what students weigh but what they think they weigh how they are viewing themselves. The study looks at female and male adolescents and their weight categories and then their perceptions of their weight. (Melanie) (Santrock, 2010 pg 60)

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Have you ever been to a museum that had a model of the human body that you could play with? This is sort of the online equivalent. AboutKidsHealth is a Canadian site with a bunch of information, particularly the "How The Body Works" section. The part of the section called "Sex Development" seems most relevant to this chapter, but I found the whole HTBW section interesting. There are animations that show each step that a child goes through during puberty. There are 3-D models of the different body parts. It's got a whole lot of stuff, and it's definitely worth exploring. (Zak)

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Teen Growth is an interactive website that was designed for teens to aquire information about their bodies, health, and well-being. It was created in 1999 by its sister site "Kids Growth". Teens are able ask questions that may be embarrassing to ask a parent and then are posted for other teens to read about along with answers to those questions. One of the things I like about this webiste is that all the information comes from a Medical Advisory Board of respected doctors and physicians that focus on children and adolescent health. Some of the links they can look at are bodies, emotions, sex and danger (drugs, alcohol etc...). It is an interesting, friendly and inviting looking website. (LeAnn)

[|Mean Girls] This movie is all about the female perspective of adolescence. They have cliques like: "plastics" among the popular girls. A new girl comes along and strives to be accepted by a certain group, so when the plastics invite her with alterior motives, she eventually wants to stay anyway because she has been accepted by her peer group. Sexuality plays in when she falls for a guy that the plastics are trying to get back at. Because adolescent girls are so self-conscious about their bodies, they will almost do anything to fit in with other girls who are looked upon as sexy by boys. Boys seem to only think about what hoops they have to jump through to have a sexual experience.