Talk:Adolescence

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a couple passages from WP:NPOV for article improvement

Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#A_simple_formulation says

We sometimes give an alternative formulation of the non-bias policy: assert facts, including facts about opinions — but do not assert opinions themselves. There is a difference between facts and opinions. By "fact" we mean "a piece of information about which there is no serious dispute." For example, that a survey produced a certain published result would be a fact. That there is a planet called Mars is a fact. That Plato was a philosopher is a fact. No one seriously disputes any of these things. So we can feel free to assert as many of them as we can.

Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#Undue_weight says

NPOV says that the article should fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by a verifiable source, and should do so in proportion to the prominence of each. Now an important qualification: Articles that compare views need not give minority views as much or as detailed a description as more popular views, and may not include tiny-minority views at all (by example, the article on the Earth only very briefly refers to the Flat Earth theory, a view of a distinct minority).

Jecowa 06:12, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, and I don't know how it is in the Christian-extremist USA, but here in Europe sex by adolescents is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about, so these opinions have way too much (even serious) text in the article about them compared to the general POV. Salaskan 16:08, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

• I agree that this doesn't represent a worldwide viewpoint, but to be honest, I'm not even sure that this represents a US viewpoint. Since when is it abnormal and horrible for adolescents to explore their sexuality? It seems that many on this talk page raised their eyebrows a bit while reading this section. It moralizes too much and really ought to focus more on facts about adolescent sexuality rather than opining on whether or not adolescent sexuality creates psychologically-scarred people. --Strangerer (Talk | Contribs) 22:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

re: Adolescent psychology

This is an awkward sentence:

Due to the adolescents' experiencing various cognitive and physical changes, it is frequently notable that they start giving more importance to their peer group and less to their parents, due to the aggregated influence of whom they might go on to indulge in activities not deemed as socially acceptable, although this may be more of a social phenomenon than a psychological one.[2]

Brian Pearson 13:24, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Does this make sense for the introduction?

Adolescence (Latin adolescentia, from adolescere, to grow up) is the period or process of growing from puberty to adulthood. It is also the state or condition of being adolescent. Teenagers (ages 13-19) are usually adolescent, though in some individuals, puberty may extend a few years beyond the teenage years, and in some individuals, puberty begins in the pre-teen years. --167.206.128.33 16:18, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

WP:DICDEF additions (i.e. "it is also...") are no good. Also, "from puberty to adulthood" is not correct; puberty is a long process, it is not a point "from" which another process begins. I don't understand the purpose of your changes; would you explain? Photouploaded 16:35, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

I thought puberty was just the age when a person becomes physically capable of reproducing offspring. I didn't know it was a long process. I thought when a girl reaches her period...one year from that...that's when puberty starts for them...and then she becomes an adolescent...and when she attained maturity...that's when she is an adult. For a boy, I guess it would be when they start to ejaculate. That's when puberty starts for them...and when he attained maturity...that is when he is an adult. I hope I'm making sense to you. --167.206.128.33 22:41, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Google thinks we're both right; here, "puberty" is referred to both as the time at which reproduction first becomes possible and the entire time period of sexual maturation. Do you have any problems with the current version? I think it is fine. Photouploaded 04:40, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

If we'll both right, then why can't we use my version? Or even better, why can't we use both of them? --167.206.128.33 13:17, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Because you are banned User:Jessica Liao. Your contributions will always be removed on sight. --Fire Star 火星 14:23, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Images

Some of these pictures just don't seem to bring anything to this article.

• First off, 4 out of 5 images are exclusively male
• Image:Teen girls.jpg, the one picture that contains girls is a rather poor shot from behind. You can't even see their faces!
• Why are there two pictures of a 'candid male teen'?

--Is this fact...? 07:01, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree. This article needs more international flavor. These images predominantly depict white, middle class males (from English speaking countries no less). I'll see if I can't get some pictures of Japanese teens since I'm here. Brian Adler (talk) 04:27, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, agree with the both of you, of course. Flyer22 (talk) 05:35, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

That's nice, but I'm curious why you specifically wanted to find pictures of Japanese teens? Heh... --70.142.54.69 (talk) 14:07, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm guessing that BrianAdler, as wanting more diversity in this article image-wise and simply thinking about different ethnicities/cultures, thought of Japanese culture, among others. He set out to obtain images of Japanese adolescents first. You have to start somewhere, and maybe he did not have the time to look for images of other ethnicities. Flyer22 (talk) 00:53, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

I though that the image of the Emo boy and the boy in the hat are very appropiate as it visually shows the fashions of teenagers, as they set street fashion and are very fashionable!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.107.81 (talk) 22:13, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

I got rid of the picture, 'Teenagers in a Colorado Classroom as it contained young men with beards. Teenagers don't have beards, these men must have been around 20. Anyway, there faces were very small in the photo.

Military Service

"The age at which teens are allowed to serve in the military is generally younger than the legal drinking age, for obvious reasons."

What obvious reasons? This actually seems to be a bit counter-intuitive to me, but since I have negative feelings on both alcohol and military service I might not be the best to judge. At the very least it's needlessly vague. 69.181.55.239 (talk) 06:13, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

I removed it, it does not even seem true, let alone have an obvious reason.--Patrick (talk) 07:01, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

Regarding section "Collective Noun of Teenagers"

This section seems unencyclopedic to me. It refers to a question (http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080926120826AAx8byC) someone posted on "yahoo [sic] Answers". There were only 16 answers to this question, and the selected answer appears to me to be intended to be 'clever' or 'humorous', and provides no citation. I feel this is akin to making a section about a conversation you had with a couple of friends about a subject; one of your friends provides a dryly humorous answer, your friends have a few chuckles over it. Will someone with more WP experience please review and possible delete this section? Thanks. 4.79.81.4 (talk) 20:37, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree. I have removed the section.WotherspoonSmith (talk) 03:34, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

What?

"In recent years, however, the start of puberty has seen an increase in preadolescence and extension beyond the teenage years, making adolescence less simple to discern.[1][5][2]"

Hmm, I don't think I quite agree completely. However, I think they are right about it over all. I think ages 10 is when it starts (puberty) and then ends around 20-22. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Punkymonkey987 (talk • contribs) 05:40, 19 November 2008 (UTC)