Assignment #5: Adolescent Development

Learning Objective: Each student will demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge of cognitive and socioemotional development during adolescence to how adolescents are portrayed in the media.

Context: TV shows and movies often include adolescent characters. How well do those portrayals align with our knowledge of development during this important life stage? For example, do adolescents in the media engage in more risk-taking activities in the presence of peers than when alone? How does culture come into play?

Task:

a) Select a movie or TV show that focuses on an adolescent character. (Note. Do not select a show that focuses on young adults. Friends does not count!)

b) Discuss how the adolescent was portrayed based on your knowledge. Your discussion should include

i) a brief description of the adolescent's behavior and the context in which that behavior occurred

ii) a commentary on the extent to which their behavior aligns with what you learned in this course.

Note. Several aspects of adolescent development were discussed including physical changes, health, cognitive development, school transitions, (ethnic) identity development, peers, risk-taking, bullying, and depression & suicide. Excellent assignments will touch on two or three of these. (Trying to cover more issues will result in your paper lacking depth.) You must provide an in-text citation for each study to which you refer.