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Adolescence is the most dramatic and formative time of our lives. Whether you are parenting a teenager or looking to make sense of your own youth, this is the only book you''ll need to understand it. ''Compelling, useful and fascinating'' JO BRAND ''Wonderful and deeply moving'' MARK HADDON In this expert, empowering book, Lucy Foulkes draws on the latest research and in-depth interviews to demystify adolescent behaviours - friendship, risk-taking, sex, love, bullying and more - and expose the surprising and often moving reality beneath them. We see that teenagers are far more conservative than rebellious; that apparent recklessness is often calculated and risk-averse; that popularity is a mixed blessing even as friendships can be a life-changing good. We understand why social hierarchies are so fiercely policed, even while adolescents have an extraordinary capacity for empathy and mutual support; why appearances are overly important, and why rejection at this age hurts so much. We see that even the most difficult experiences are part of this essential and life-shaping process of self-discovery. If our identities are a story, then the crucial first draft is written in adolescence. Coming of Age helps us read that story with clarity and compassion so that we can appreciate the adolescents we know but also those we once were - those wild and fragile people who helped us become who we are.
About the author
Dr Lucy Foulkes is an academic psychologist. She is currently a Prudence Trust Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she leads research into adolescent mental health and social development. She is the author of What Mental Illness Really Is (and What It Isn't) and has written for the Guardian, New Scientist and Wall Street Journal. Her work has been discussed on BBC 2’s Newsnight and reported in The Times, Economist, New York Times and Atlantic, and she has appeared on BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind and Start the Week.
Summary
Adolescence is the most formative yet misunderstood period of our lives. At a time of heightened concern about teenagers, Coming of Age draws on a decade of expert research to get beneath the stereotypes, expose the myths and reveal the important reasons why teens behave the way they do.
'Wonderful and deeply moving . . . shows us the potentially positive aspects of adolescent experiences so often seen as negative' MARK HADDON
'Excellent and insightful . . . expertly presented . . . Foulkes is steeped in knowledge about, as well as respect for, teenage life' Observer
Covering all the characteristic behaviours of adolescents - from peer pressure and risk-taking, to sex, love, bullying, friendship and more - adolescent psychologist Lucy Foulkes shows that time and again we mistake, dismiss and even try to prevent what is actually normal and healthy. Among many surprising insights, she explains why self-consciousness, anxiety and sensation-seeking are crucial features of this developmental phase. She shows that teenagers are socially conservative as much as rebellious, and that apparent recklessness is usually calculated. She reveals why being popular can be just as hard as being lonely, and why friendships at this age shape us for life.
Adolescence is often difficult, sometimes extremely so, and most of us have yet to come to terms with our own. And yet Foulkes shows that adolescents have an extraordinary capacity for resilience, empathy and mutual support, and that even the most challenging experiences are part of an essential process of self-discovery. This is why understanding adolescence is the key to understanding ourselves.
‘Thank goodness . . . for this timely . . . and eminently sensible book . . . You will read this book and sigh in recognition . . . just knowing that everything they – and we – struggle with is normal, and necessary, is helpful’ Telegraph
‘Wise and compassionate, well-researched and straight-talking . . . shows how today's adolescents can be helped to flourish in life’ Dr Gavin Francis, author of Recovery
‘Hopeful, inspiring . . . leaves you with a greater understanding of your own adolescence, and greater compassion for those currently in its throes’ Camilla Nord, author of The Balanced Brain
'Myth-busting . . . eye-opening . . . delivers many counter-intuitive insights' Guardian
‘A must read for everyone interested in what is going on with adolescents’ Essi Viding, Professor of Developmental Pyschopathy, UCL
‘Compelling, useful and fascinating . . . revealing adolescence's unwritten rules’ JO BRAND
‘Comprehensive, accessible and super useful’ Dr Tara Porter, clinical psychologist and author of You Don't Understand Me
