Key Issues & Concerns of Adolescents

  • Self – awareness helps adolescents understand themselves and establish their personal identity. Lack of information and skills prevent them from effectively exploring their potential and establishing a positive image and sound career perspective.

Adolescents have frequent mood changes reflecting feelings of anger, sadness, happiness, fear, shame, guilt, and love and they do not have a supportive environment in order to share their concerns with others. Counseling facilities are not available.

As a part of growing up, adolescents redefine their relationships with parents, peers and members of the opposite sex. Adults have high expectations from them and do not understand their feelings. Adolescents need social skills for building positive and healthy relationships with others including peer of opposite sex.

Adolescents find it difficult to resist peer pressure. Some of them may yield to these pressures and engage in experimentation. The experiment with smoking and milder drugs can lead to switching over to hard drugs and addiction at a later stage.

Exposure to media and mixed messages from the fast changing world have left adolescents with many unanswered questions. The widening gap in communication between adolescents and parents especially on Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) is a matter of great concern.

Sexually active adolescents face greater health risks. Girls may also face mental and emotional problems related to early sexual initiation