Adolescence

When young children become adolescents, they mature sexually and begin acquiring adult duties and responsibilities. Adolescents' brains mature to aid their adaptation to adulthood as they explore evolving social relationships with family, peers, and sexual partners, and develop their identities. Social changes in the early 1900s gave birth to a period of adolescence between childhood and adulthood, typically marked by puberty and ranging from ages 13 to 19, though this period varies across societies, cultures, and generations. Universal education and child labor laws moved children into schools and out of the work force, thereby extending the period of dependence on their parents (or guardians). As young children's access to adequate nutrition and health care increases, they grow up healthier and enter puberty earlier. As adolescents ...