Adolescence is a crucial period of human life that is characterized by the physiological evolution of somatic characteristics associated with psychological and behavioural modifications. In this period of life, the subject experiences a process of growth, the development of his own personality, and the discovery of himself.
But how do parents feel about their kids’ independence showing-out?
They are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends, parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the places or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment (幻灭感) with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility (一贯正确), and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment, they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parents’ refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian (专制的) attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment.
【小题1】What truly provoked the inevitable disillusionment according to Paragraph 4?| A．The contrast between parents’ realistic conditions and adolescents’ expectation |
| B．Resistance against their parents’ unreasoning demands or instructions |
| C．The doubted belief that parents tend to be wiser deciders than kids |
| D．The criteria of evaluating parents’ automatic behaviour |
| A．forming distant connections with parents |
| B．breaking their parents's caring hearts and underlying concerns |
| C．losing their own pursuits for ambitions and dreams |
| D．bringing themselves a abnormal psychological state |
| A．Inner Journey: How Emotional Connections Shatter |
| B．Suspending Adolescence: A Bridge Is Forming |
| C．Adolescent Break-through: Pursuits For excellence |
| D．Anxious Parents: A Helping Hand Need A Break |
