Chapter 8: Adolescents’ Self-Image in Lebanon: Implications for Education

Adolescence has been described as a phase of life beginning biologically and terminating psychosocially. It may be defined as the period within the life span when most of a person’s biological, cognitive, psychological, and social characteristics are changing from what is typically considered childlike to what is considered adultlike (Lerner & Spanier, 1980). For the adolescent, this period is a dramatic challenge requiring adjustment to changes in the self, in the family, and in the peer group. Understandably, then, for both adolescents and their parents, adolescence is a time of excitement and of anxiety, of happiness and of troubles, of discovery and of bewilderment. It is a time of breaks with the past and of links with the future. Adolescence can be a confusing time for the adolescent experiencing this phase of life, for the parents who are nurturing the adolescent during the progression through this period, and for other adults charged with enhancing the development of youth during this life stage.