The book describes puberty as a time of tumultuous transition from childhood to adulthood.
This transformative developmental spurt is activated by rapid physical changes, hormonal
development and explosive activity of neurons. The book describes this physical development
along with the typically adolescent state of mindsomething that can remain active long
after adolescence is over. When the child attains independence, this developmental step
demands a difficult balancing act from parents: they must be able to release their child
without cutting their ties to him. Thus, accompanying an adolescent through his adolescence
constitutes a difficult emotional task for parents and teachers, although this development is
also a quite normal drama. This normal state of crisis lasts several years, with the
teenager oscillating between childlike tendencies and his desire to become an adult. The more
parents succeed in recognizing and experiencing these new challenges as an integral,
ineluctable emotional transformative process, the more they can allow their children to
become independent. In addition, parents who can also see this crisis as a chance for their
own further development will be ultimately enriched by this painful process: they can face up
to their own aging as they take leave of youth with its myriad possibilities, accepting and
working through a newfound rivalry with their sexually mature children, thus experiencing a
process of maturitya process which in turn can set an example for their children.
The second part of the book describes the serious disorders of adolescents when things go
wrong. Adolescents often do not know when they overstep borders. Central problem areas in
adolescence are discussed: violence, criminality, teenage pregnancy, psychic breakdown and
suicidal thoughts.