How Does Culture and Diversity Impact Adolescent Development? Essay Example

Adolescent is the transition age between childhood and adulthood. It is at this stage that an individual experiences a rapid change in physical aspects as well as psychological one. Therefore, it goes without saying that the culture and diversity in which an individual finds himself during this transition stage greatly impacts on his development.

How culture and diversity impact on an adolescent

The first impact of culture and diversity on an adolescent is acculturation. This happens when cultures collide and an adolescent is caught between a stone and a hard surface as to which way to go. This will make him sought on the one, which looks most appealing to him and not necessarily the best. This therefore may end up compromising on an adolescent’s character. The second impact is that of challenges brought about by immigration. This is because in most of the instances, culture of the immigrants is not the same as that one of host culture. These impacts on the adolescents’ development since they are not sure as to which culture to subscribe to. The situation is even worse when we are dealing with contrasting cultures.

Another impact is that one brought about by diversity in social economic status. Here the adolescents keep on comparing themselves with their peers on various aspects on their daily lives. This may negatively affect an individual from poor background by tending to think that the other fellows from well off backgrounds are may be superior. He then starts developing low esteem that is very bad for his development.

In conclusion, I can say that culture and diversity have a great impact on an adolescent’s development. It is up to the adults to recognize these variances and come up with mitigating measures earlier enough to avoid any negative impacts they may have on the adolescents during such challenging times in their lives.

Works cited

Robert S. Feldman. Adolescent Chapter 12, ISBN-13-978-0-13-175061-6.