ABSTRACT
Young adolescents in the 10–15-year-old age group face a period when their lives are surrounded by confusion, disorder, turmoil, chaos, and change. They undergo rapid changes—physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. Combine this lack of support with rapid changes and the constant peer pressure young adolescents experience, and it is easy to see the bewildering choices this new stage of life has thrust upon them. Today's classrooms are filled with students whose second language is English, who wear different clothes, eat different foods, and have different traditions. Family makeup—single parents, same-sex parents, adoptive parents, grandparents, parents who work outside the home, family expectations for the young adolescent, and opportunities available to the student—all are diverse situations. Sexual orientation, learning styles and abilities, and even geographical location and accent may also be included. The chapter concludes with a list of characteristics of young adolescents.
