Page 210 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Guidance and Counseling

Notes 19.7 Nature of the Secondary School Students

Adolescents are in a Period of Change: The period represented by students in grades 7 to 12 is that
of adolescence, when the transition from childhood to adulthood takes place. It is a period of profound
physical, mental, social, and emotional change and growth, the nature and significance of which the
youth himself does not understand. He is often a stranger to himself as well as to others. It is period
of rapid growth in height, weight, and physical strength and of a broadening of vision of the
physical and social world.
There is an increasing feeling of personal independence which is mixed with a consciousness of the
need—which he sometimes denies and tries to suppress—for companionship and help. It is so
difficult for the adolescent to know himself that, even when offered help that he needs and knows
that he needs, he often rejects it.
Adolescents Differ in Growth and Development: Adolescence begins with puberty which is the
stage of development at which the reproductive organs mature and the secondary sex characteristic
develop. The onset of puberty is not uniform for all youth. It begins at different ages and lasts for
different lengths of time.

Another factor making for differences is that ‘spurts’ of rapid growth—physical, mental, and social—
come at different ages, and there are ‘plateaus’ that are not uniform in time of beginning or in length
of duration.
The problems due to differences among students in extent of maturity are further increased because
girls begin and complete the period of maturation before boys.
Misunderstanding often results from the use of tables showing the ages of maturing boys and girls.
In most discussions the average ages of beginning and ending this period are considered to be key
points and the fact that there are great differences within as well as between the sexes is overlooked.
Nor is there any clear evidence that a student who begins this period earlier or later than the
average is ‘abnormal’ in the sense that something is wrong with his development. He may be
‘unnormal’ without being ‘abnormal.’ Because of these differences in development and the fears
and embarrassments associated with them the secondary school student is in special need of guidance.

Adolescents Differ in Attitudes and Interests
During adolescence there are changes in mental and social characteristics, in attitudes toward school,
toward teachers, toward parents, toward peers, and toward authority. Interests and attitudes toward
literature and society change rapidly, and individuals in the same grade may not have the same
interest or the same comprehension.

19.8 Need of Students in Counseling

The guidance needs of students in the secondary school are basically not very different from those
in any other part of the educational system. What differences there are stem from the degree to
which the student is able to participate in the solution of his problems, their urgency, and the
facilities available for help.
19.8.1 Adjustment to Secondary School
Although the change from the six-year elementary school to the junior high school is not so abrupt
as that from the eighth grade of the old elementary school to the first year of high school, there are
several very important differences between the two schools.
Because of the departmental organization usually found in the junior high school, the pupil must
adjust himself to a variety of teachers instead of to only one teacher. Instead of remaining in the
same room for all classes, he moves from room to room. The character of the junior-high-school
building itself is often quite different from that of the elementary school. The student is plunged
into a different type of school life and school discipline.

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