Teenagers 10 - 15 years old: Growth spurt and independence

Conditions for 10-15-year-olds have changed considerably over the past 30 years. More traffic on the roads, mobile phones, the Internet and TV all contribute to the fact that young people are significantly less active than previously.

During puberty, child's play is replaced by other forms of social interaction. Young people gradually start behaving in a more adult way. And more adult behaviour means less physical activity.

Nevertheless, it transpires that the 10-15-year-olds want to be active. They want more outdoor spaces for this. In a survey conducted by Epinion Capacent on behalf of KOMPAN, 58% of the 1,040 13-16-year-olds interviewed said there was a shortage of outdoor facilities in their neighbourhoods.

Young people want to be active, but their options are often limited unless they go to organised sports. For girls, especially, that is a problem: boys enjoy ball games and generally have football pitches nearby. It is more difficult for girls, who do not like "sweaty" activities in public areas, but want to be where the boys are. Read what the young people answered in Capacent Epinions survey on behalf of KOMPAN.

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Teenage years - troublesome or triumphant
No life period is as hated and loved as the teenage years - songs are still being written, angry neighbours still being found every day, witnessing in each their way the troublesome, yet fascinating, transition period of the teenage years. For our children this ought to be mainly a time of triumph: they are finally being initiated to grown up life, they can finally manage most things on their own. But in an environment with often confused norms, what is right and wrong? This is where most teenagers still need adult supervision.

Physical development - the growth spurt
Teenagers grow at an amazing rate. The growth behaves highly unfairly: they grow outside - in. This means that feet and hands grow big first and only gradually the rest of the limbs follow. The rapid growth challenges the sense of balance of the kids - they often get clumsy.

The teenage girls have a more unmarked growth spurt and usually have finished it at about 15 years. Teenage girls have balance trouble too: A Danish study of single accidents among Danish handball girls showed a surprising amount, which was decreased by 60 % as soon as balance training was made part of the schedule before the matches. With our knowledge of training of the sense of balance, spinning equipment and balance equipment should be offered to teenage children.

Social and emotional development
Teenagers need to be with peers. The friends are the only ones to understand just how ignorant the parents are and just how little you can do about it. Group belonging means everything to teenagers. The social successes or failures have a big impact on their emotional development. Emotionally teenagers are often quite experimenting - to play with different roles or personalities helps them understand themselves - today a nice girl, tomorrow a punk - and the truth might lie somewhere between the extremes.

Teenagers don't play - or at least they don't call it play: The teenage years is the period of their lives where our children need to be with peers more than ever - and the time where we as adult planners or politicians do very little to make appealing possibilities to meet and move. Even though statistics show that cooperation with teenagers on planning a place for them makes the vandalism on the younger children's playgrounds decrease considerably, we still see few nice teenage hangouts.
The lack of nice teenage hangouts can only confirm the sometimes doubtful and sceptical teenagers in the belief that adults and society do not at all understand them. With every place we make for the teenagers, we do not only make a place that enhances their chances of a better physical, social and learning ability - we also make a clear signal that we understand their needs and want to listen.

Cognitive development - the brain and learning
Neurological studies of the teenage brain shows that the frontal lobes of teenagers grow considerably. The frontal lobes are the centres of our strategically thinking. The work of the frontal lobes is being coordinated by the cerebellum. Cerebellum is commonly known as the centre of gross motor skills. This gives way for the thesis that physical activity is crucial to efficient learning. With the words of Jay Giedd M.D. of the National Institute of Mental Health, University of North Dakota, USA

"The recess and play seems to be the first thing that is cut out of school curriculums in tight times. But those actually may be as important, or maybe even more important, than some of the academic subjects that the children are doing."
At a time with lack of movement and growing obesity among teenagers, this is just another good reason for offering appealing possibilities for play for our teenagers.


Sources:
Adolescent Growth and Motor Performance - A Longitudinal Study of Belgian Boys, Ref. G.P. Beunen et.alt. Human Kinetics Books, 1988
Skolebørn, fysisk aktivitet og idrætsskader I Svendborg Kommune (School Children, Physical Activity and Sport Damages in the Community of Svendborg, Karsten Froberg et alt., Odense University (now: University of Southern Denmark), 1995
Youth Shelters and Sports Systems - a good practice guide, Roger Hampshire and Mark Wilkinson, Thames Valley Police and The University of West of England, 2002
Workshop GALK (Conference of the City Gardeners in Germany) Ständige Konferenz der Gartenamtsleiter beim Deutschen Städtetag)."Spielen in der Stadt", coordinated by Dr. Regine von der Haar. www.galk.de