The Intermediate Age—Twelve to Sixteen
23. General Character of the Period of Adolescence.—The Intermediate age ushers in a time known as adolescence, including the years approximately from twelve to twenty-four, during which life passes from childhood to maturity. The period is marked by the development of new physical powers, new emotions, new ideals and conceptions of life, and a new spiritual consciousness. The change from the old life to the new, from the narrow to the broad, from interests selfish and small to interests as far-reaching as the world and eternity, is often accompanied by more or less upheaval in the soul and this period of re-adjustment may be a time of "storm and stress."
Two facts out of the many suggest the critical nature of adolescence:
(1) During these years the pupil is most susceptible to the power of influence. It does not touch his life simply as an impression, but as an impelling, determining force inciting him to action.
(2) Life rarely changes in its tendencies and character after full maturity has come. There is a physical reason for this in the hardening of the brain which fixes the pathways of habit and renders new lines of thought and action difficult. Therefore, in all probability as life emerges from adolescence will it enter eternity.
24. General Characteristics of the Intermediate Age.—Many of the characteristics of the Junior age are still evident, though modified by fuller development. Physical energy has increased and the mind has greater power, especially in its ability to reason. No disillusioning has come to destroy the old hero-worship, but with even more intensity each life clings to that one who embodies its aspirations. The hunger for general reading reaches its climax in this period, to be succeeded by specialized interest in lines determined by the taste of the individual.
Lacking still the self-control of manhood, breaking from the old life and dimly apprehending as yet the meaning of the new, under the domination of impulse and influence as well as of dawning conviction, the Intermediate age offers particularly trying problems with its great opportunities.
25. Special Characteristics of the Intermediate Age.
(1) The functioning of new physical powers. This is one of the most significant changes in the Intermediate period, because of its physical effects and its reflex influence upon the mental and emotional life. Severe temptations often have to be met, questioning and unwise introspection, and the teacher ought to be a confidential friend as well as instructor.
(2) A condition of instability and easy excitation. The nervous system is abnormally sensitive and quickly disturbed. The mind is keyed to vigorous, intense, and often unbalanced thought, but it is in the feelings that the lack of poise is most manifest. Whether the teacher can assign causes or not, he is conscious that the emotions are a veritable tinder-box, easily kindled into a great fire by a very little matter. Superlatives, slang, and the highest pitches of enthusiasm are common experience, and because action and reaction are equal and opposite, periods of depression corresponding to those of exhilaration are almost inevitable.
(3) A new personal consciousness. There are several marked evidences of its existence.
(a) Care for appearance. In the beginning of this period, what others think is a matter of supreme indifference, but it is not long before a desire to appear well manifests itself. Solicitude as to one's personal looks is supplemented by anxiety over the condition of the home, the standing of the family, the social position and dress of the companions. Naturally, judgment of others is based on outward appearance rather than on real worth of character.
(b) Desire for appreciation. An intense longing is experienced to have talents, accomplishments, wits, efforts—everything which pertains to self valued at par or above. For this cause there is frequent public parade of wares, as in the case of the smart youth or the girl who draws attention to herself by loud talking and laughter. The same longing works self-consciousness, embarrassment, and awkwardness in others who feel themselves deficient, neither class as yet apprehending the truth that character, not external show, wins the truest meed of praise from the world.
(c) A sense of approaching manhood and womanhood. This makes the life sensitive beyond expression to reproof or criticism, particularly in public. It also explains the restlessness and desire to enter at once upon the life-work.
(4) Increasing Social Appetite. The boy who said in answer to a remonstrance over his presence in the billiard hall and bowling alley, "A fellow has got to have fun somewhere," voiced the sentiment of all his confrères in the Intermediate period. The desire for good times is paramount, and its right indisputable in the conception of the young people. The delight in healthy outdoor sports continues with the athletically inclined, and ought to be fostered as a safety valve for surplus energy, a diverter of self-centered thought, and a tonic for excitable nerves. In the latter part of this period, however, the love of fun gives place to a love of functions, either the helpful sort of social commingling or the danger-filled type, marked by late hours, excitement, and overwrought imagination. This transition comes from a growing mutual attraction between the sexes which has succeeded the repulsion evident in the early part of the period.
(5) The Development of the Altruistic Feelings. Though these feelings are not unknown to childhood, their vigorous development does not begin until the Intermediate period. The pupil now experiences an impulse from within to sacrifice for others and make his life a source of blessing. The new sense of God and his claims intensifies and vitalizes the desires. Unselfishness appears, interest in the welfare of others as well as self, and willingness to do for them even at personal cost. These are the feelings that make it possible to say "Brother," and to love the neighbor as one's self. They can come only as the meaning of life is better understood. They can remain only as they are given constant expression in action.
(6) A Spiritual Awakening. Even though the pupil may be a genuine Christian, there comes to him at this time a larger consciousness of God and the soul's relation to him, and with it a call to full surrender. Whereas the childhood relation to God was based on feeling, there is now the element of will-power which must ratify by deliberate choice that which love has prompted. If the pupil is not a Christian, this awakening comes as God's call to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and crown him Lord of the life as well. If the call is not heeded now, its tones grow less and less distinct, until, in the strident cries of the world, they may be silenced forever.