In american society, adolescence is usually considered to run from ages 12 to 19, but puberty and acceptance occur at different times for many different people...Education, the exclusion of youth from the labor force, and the development of the Juvenile Justice System are the 3 important factors in the development of adolescence
This stage did not exist prior to the Civil War, young people were treated as small adults. Adolescence has become a stage of development in only the past century - 5 characteristics apply to all adolescents - biological growth and development, an undefined status, increased decision making, increased pressure, and the search for self
Interaction between young unmarried men and women was restricted to courtship. This was a strict system with close supervision. Marriage was the expected outcome of any lengthy relationship. The trend toward dating accelerated in the years after WWI. It is a form of entertainment, a mechanism for socialization, and it fulfills certain basic psychological needs such as conversation, companionship, and undersanding
The CDC idicated that 29 % of unmarried women were sexually active between the ages of 15 and 19 in the year of 1970. By 1995 this had increased by 50 %. For teenagers, sexual activity often has negative consequences. This behavior is associated with many risk-taking behaviors such as drug use and delinquency.
1,000 drug related murders occurred each year in the U.S. during the mid 1990's. The U.S. has the highest rate of drug use among adolescents of any industrialized country. In 1998, more tham 200,000 juveniles were arrested in the U.S. for drug-abuse violations