Seasons of Life

Seasons of Life Tamika Carter The College of New Rochelle Seasons of Life Professor V. Pearson April 19, 2008 Seasons of Life The Seasons of Life series examines the development process from infancy to late adulthood, and the many challenges that are faced at each stage of the development process. The first video examines the developmental process from birth to approximately age five. The video explores the many components and experiences that contribute to human’s early development. The process of human development is very complex. There are many contributing factors that work in cohesion, that make up the developmental process in humans. One being the 3 clocks, which are the 3 clocks of development. The first clock is the Biological clock. The Biological clock determines our physical growth, such as when we are born and when we die. It’s the body’s way of keeping time. The second clock is the social clock. The social clock is society’s way of keeping track of human development. It informs of what society expects from humans, and when. The social clock determines when a child should begin school, when one should consider marriage, and at what age a person should retire. The third clock is the psychological clock. The psychological clock is humans own personal clock, its human inner schedule. The psychological clock consists of your feelings, emotions, and everything that is you. The 3 clocks examined in video# 1 is the foundation that humans develop on. The 3 clocks are always ticking from birth to death. Video#2 discusses the development of children and adolescents from the ages of 6-20. It explores the many challenges that both children and adolescents endure in human development. The childhood and adolescents stages can be the most challenging stage of development for both the child, and the parents. Children must now adapt to life on their own terms, they must find ways to fit in with others, and all while trying to find their own place in this world. They must learn to deal with challenges and setbacks in positive ways now to ensure that in the future challenges are dealt with in a healthy and positive manner. Adolescents must learn to adjust to their 3 clocks being out of sync. This stage is both difficult for the child as it is for the parents. Adolescents, on the one hand demand more freedom, while still demonstrating childlike behaviors. This is the time when puberty begins for most adolescents, which only adds to the confusion. Video# 3 discusses the development of young adults. It describes the challenges they face with coming to grips with their childhood, while preparing for their adulthood. During the young adult stage, the social clock is informing us that we now have to take life much more seriously. We have to decide our career paths, chose a companion, and decide if where going to extent our families. These are the years of critical decision making, because the decision made now will affect the future in positive or negative ways. The women who are nearing the end of young adulthood have to face the possibility that soon, they will be unable to reproduce children, as their biological clock comes to an end. Men and women also have to deal with marriages that have gone bad, but for men this transition is not as hard for them as it is for women. Most men have the opportunity to start out fresh. In most cases that women are left with the children and must now for the first time in their lives look for jobs, whereas the men are single with no children, and are able to date, and find other companions, while the women struggles to make ends meet. Video #4 explains the development procedure of middle adults. The video examines the challenges middle adults experiences in this stage of life in society today, and the effects of the 3 clocks during this period. The social clock informs us of what society expects from us, and at what age. For instance the social clock determines when a child should begin school, when a person should consider marriage, and when a person should be retiring. But in today’s society, the social clock is changing. In past generations, returning to school or changing careers in middle adulthood would have been a rare occurrence, but today many more people in middle adulthood are making these and many more changes in their lives. Due to better medicines, and better quality foods, people are living much longer today, than in past generations. People in middle adulthood now, have the opportunity to do just about anything that they did earlier in their development. The Baby Boomers are showing us how to live in middle adulthood, they are showing us the attitude to have to ensure graceful aging in today’s society. Some might not have a graceful aging experience because they have regrets about things either they did, or did not do and this can lead to a mid-life crisis. Video# 5 explores late adulthood, and the challenges faced with dealing with one’s mortality. Late adulthood refers to anyone over the age of 65, but being over 65 does not mean just sitting at home knitting anymore. People of this age group are still living like they were young, and in fact there is a group called the Young/Old. The Young/Old are very active, and still seek fulfillment out of life. In late adulthood, the topic of sex is just as important as it was in earlier stages of development, but now sex is more meaningful, more intimate, and more nurturing. In late adulthood, integrity and pride about one’s life is very important, and for them a life’s review will allow them to find peace with themselves. For women this can be a challenging period, because men die sooner than women, many are left to be widows living alone. After many years of companionship, now they must deal with the fact that they are alone, no children, and no husband. The developmental process documented in these videos allows one to see the many stages in human development. From infancy to late adulthood humans have to endure the many seasons of development that life brings. From attachment to adolescents, and on to the mid-life crisis, and then to the life’s review one must constantly adjust to the seasons of life.