OVERVIEW
The purpose of this Public Service Announcement for Emerging Adults Assignment is to
write a public service announcement (PSA) to help adults understand emerging adulthood.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Read the script below.
Announcement for Emerging Adults Assignment, taking notes using the study guides
provided. - Based on what you learn, write a PSA (public service announcement) to help older adults
(parents, employers, pastors, etc.) understand emerging adults. Use these questions to
organize your thoughts about emerging adulthood:
? Who are they? Define general characteristics.
? What are they doing? What developmental tasks are generally a part of this life
stage (hint: think about Erikson’s theory).
? What are their major concerns?
? Which presentation provides the best advice? Which advice that was given is least
helpful? What advice would you give your previous self (if you are past this
stage) or your current self (if you are currently in emerging adulthood)? - Your Public Service Announcement for Emerging Adults Assignment must contain
450 – 500 words. - At least one specific idea from each of the videos must be included. You may also
include information from Scripture, our textbook or other scholarly sources. - Identify your sources with an APA formatted citation and reference entry (current
edition). Please contact your instructor if you have any questions about this. - Submit your work.
Welcome to Module 6. Our topic this week is emerging adulthood. This brief overview will introduce you to some of the topics you will see this week. Emerging adulthood is a relatively new arrival on the scene, hadn't been first introduced by Jeffrey Arnett in the year 2000. Since then there's been a great deal of study related to the stage of life. So identify emerging adulthood is the age is 825. Others use 820 eight still others identify anyone in their 20s as an emerging adult. So what is emerging adulthood is the time defined by decision-making and discovery. Psychologists have referred to it as the decade of destiny. Meg Jay has written an excellent book on emerging adulthood entitled the defining decade. Jeffrey Arnett, the psychologists who first wrote about this new stage, defines emerging adulthood in this way. She says emerging adulthood is an age of identity exploration and age of instability or mobility as emerging adults tend to move around a lot. Is the age of self-focus as there's a great feeling of freedom because most emerging adults can make decisions without concern for how it will impact others. It is an age of feeling in-between. You're not a kid anymore, but she also not an adult yet either. It is also an age of possibilities. Emerging adults are a hopeful bunch. They look to the future with optimism for a great life ahead. Now that we have a general idea of what emerging adulthood is, here are some facts about physical development in emerging adulthood. In general, It's a good time to be alive, is most see this as the prime of their life. Emerging adults are at the peak of physical performance stronger and faster than they've ever been before, or that they will ever be after. All body systems are at optimal functioning levels. Respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and reproductive. It is the best time physiologically to reproduce as emerging adults are more fertile, have fewer miscarriages, and they rarely encounter serious birth complications. Finally, most are also within the normal range for body mass index. In spite of all the physical advantages of emerging adulthood, there are some challenges. First of all, the incidence of sexually transmitted infections among emerging adults is higher today than it's ever been before, and sadly, it continues to grow. Emerging adults are high-intensity risk-takers. This can include extreme sports, exposure of oneself to in curable sexually transmitted diseases. Reckless driving and more. Alcohol and drug abuse is also common during emerging adulthood. More-so among college students that among their peers who are not in college. In the cognitive domain, we said that emerging adults arrive at a stage called post formal thought. This is characterized by thinking that is practical, flexible, and dialectical. The prefrontal cortex finally reaches maturity around age 25. We've done a lot of talking about the prefrontal cortex. Remember that this is the executive control center of the brain. Higher education is generally seen as a means of advancing cognitive development. If the emphasis is on critical thinking rather than just preparation for employment. Next, we will look at psychosocial development. Although identity formation has traditionally been the chief psychosocial task of adolescence, several factors have moved this crisis into emerging adulthood. Young people simply do not choose a path and commit to it during adolescence. The factors that contribute to a delay in identity formation are the universal college experience. More emerging adults than ever before attend college and put off the task of identity formation. Easy access to contraception also contributes to this as well. In earlier generations, sex was only accessible after marriage. However, the prevailing attitude in our culture sees sex is an activity really almost unrelated to marriage. This has led to more irresponsible sexual behavior later marriage and delayed childbearing, changing economic times also make it difficult for young adults to firm up their identity and settled into one particular job. Another factor that prevents some emerging adults from that settling their identity and achieving independence is the overwhelming debt that somebody incur well in college. The FDA issues related to identity formation. There are some other important points to discuss related to psychosocial development in emerging adulthood. First, we find that, well, one's basic temperament really does not change a great deal throughout the lifespan. Personality can change dramatically. Some even say that emerging adulthood is a time to reinvent yourself in terms of personality. Next, we see that self-esteem tends to rise during emerging adulthood. Relationships between emerging adults and their parents continue to be important. It's critical for parents to find a balance between support and encouragement toward independence. No helicopter parenting has allowed once your child is an emerging adult. There's quite an extensive section in our textbook about relationships during emerging adulthood, friends continue to be important, and most emerging adults actively seek romantic partners. Cultural norms have changed and many young adults use sexual intimacy is a natural part of their dating experience will be at the moral and spiritual issues related to this, there are definite physical issues. We've already mentioned the ever-increasing rate of sexually transmitted infections. And there are also social issues to consider as well. Dupont, to address one important misconception that's embraced by many emerging adults. It is the idea that cohabitation helps ensure a happy marriage. Sadly, cohabitation before marriage does not decrease the rate of divorce. It actually increases it. Why would this be the case? What theory says cohabitation involves a dynamic that they call slide versus decide. We understand that the typical path to marriage involves a series of intentional decisions to increase one's commitment. But marriage after cohabitation is different. Often, couples who have lived together for a time decide to marry just because together for a time decide to marry just because it seems like what they ought to do. Thus, they slide into marriage and end up feeling trapped rather than giving the decision to marry the important consideration it deserves. There are several excellent articles about this that I have listed in the references at the end of this presentation. The final area we will discuss is spiritual development during emerging adulthood. First, let's look at the issues we face. There's a growing trend among young adults to set aside religion or faith during emerging adulthood. Why is this happening? According to Christian Smith, the Notre Dame sociologists we've talked about in module five, there are a number of reasons for this. First is the tendency toward mobility or ruthlessness. Arnett called it in stability. Emerging adults tend to move around a lot before settling down. This makes it difficult to maintain contact with a church family. Second, emerging adults in general, what freedom to do as they please? And churches tend to induce guilty feelings. Third, the search for identity sometimes causes emerging adults to walk away from the faith tradition, so their family as they experiment with other beliefs. Fourth is the idea that I'm actually okay without Church. In other words, I'm not a horrible person. So I'm good enough. Finally, we see that society tells a margin adults that this is their last opportunity in life to be young and foolish. So what is the answer to these issues? I'll return to insight provided by Christian Smith. He indicates that parental encouragement and modeling is crucial to keeping emergently adults engage spiritually. Second, he states that good devotional practices established in childhood and adolescence, like prayer, bible study in church attendance will often help carry young people through emerging adulthood. Finally, smith says that spiritual growth almost always happens and community, when emerging adults remain connected with spiritual mentors are more likely to remain faithful. To summarize, weekend to emphasize that emerging adulthood is not a time to take a break from morality and responsibility. Instead, it is a time of preparation for adulthood. Emphasize building a foundation rather than perpetuating the focus on just having irresponsible fun. While some might accuse me of being a Grinch or worse, for this position, it is supported by research. Meg Jay, a psychologist and author of the book, The Defining Decade, says that living intentionally during your 20s produces higher self-esteem, greater perseverance, and greater life satisfaction, just to name a few of the benefits. Before we close, I'd like to share this Scripture post that I think would be great advice for those in emerging adulthood. Psalm 37, three to four from the King James version says, Trust in the Lord and do good social thought. Dwell in the land and barely thou shalt be fed, Delight thyself also when the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of my heart. That concludes our overview of emerging adulthood. I hope you've enjoyed our time together. God bless.