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Monthly Archives: October 2013

Some Generational Shifts Make Me Wonder “Will adolescence ever end?”

While getting ready for my seminar I heard the news, “Psychologists To Bump The End Of Adolescence From 18 to 25.”

Yes, according to The Daily Mail “It is hoped the new guidelines being given to child psychologists will prevent children being ‘rushed’ through childhood.”

As a baby boomer it sent me back to my youth and the memory that age 18 was the age of consent. The end of your teen years represented the end of adolescence and once you reached the age of 21 you are expected to move out, to get a job, and was considered an adult.

I arrived in the United States from Jamaica when I was 17 years old, and moved out to be on my own by 18 years of age. I remember telling my mother “you’ve had your life, now let me alone to make my way and live my life.” I promised myself not to return home but to make it on my own no matter what.

Today’s youth were just sanctioned to live at home until at least age 25 years. If you are a business be prepared for immature unrealistic expectations from a group that were just told it’s OK to not take responsibility.

This video shows some more info about it.

 

Corporations may also expect to have more of the types of behavior that’s shown below. “Wearing glasses and a blazer, dancing at 4:30 a.m. in an empty newsroom to Kanye West, 25-year-old Marina Shifrin announced to her boss — and most of the Internet — that she was quitting her job at a Taiwanese animation company.”

Here is the informational video to her boss.

It’s quite confusing though as a judge recently found a 54-year-old teacher guilty of statutory rape but only sentenced to 30 days in jail because he felt the 14-year-old girl was sexually mature.

She later committed suicide before her 17th birthday. Although 10,000 people have signed a petition to recall the judge, he still considers what he did the right thing.

Fox news reported that according to a study in Australia “adolescence doesn’t end until age 28.”

So which is it? Age 25, 28, or will we soon change it to 30?

Personally, I ascribe to the adolescence ends at age 21 mindset. Push the birds out of the nest and let them learn self reliance, make mistakes and learn from them, then take control of their own destiny.

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Known as a highly effective teacher, public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on team building, leadership, communication, & management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Yvonne is proficient in a variety of management topics, including interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communications, conflict management skills, and helps employees with their career growth.
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