The present volume of our series deals with adolescence and adolescents. It is true that much of what applies to a five-year-old applies to a fifteen-year-old, but it is equally true that adolescence does involve some real difficulties that are unique to this stage. It is as if an adolescent is passing through a violent storm that needs special training and skill on the part of the adults around him/her.

An adolescent is a child that is approximating or has gone beyond puberty. More specifically, adolescence covers three sub-stages: early-, middle-, and late-adolescence. Early adolescence starts at twelve or thirteen; middle adolescence starts at fifteen or sixteen; and late adolescence lasts until twenty one or twenty two. After this, an individual is a young adult. You can say that adolescence parallels three educational stages: middle school, secondary school, and college.