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180 PILLAR 2 Development and Learninglifestyle. Your occupational choices would be quite limited. If you were female, you would likely devote yourself to child-rearing and domestic tasks. If you were male, your occupation might be hunting and, well, gathering food. Societies like this still exist in some parts of the world. For people born into one of them, the adolescent experience can be brief and vastly different from what you are most likely experiencing now as a teen.Even in the United States, your transition from childhood to adult life would have happened more quickly just a century ago. At that time, formal education for many young people ended with eighth grade, and many young couples married, began working (on farms, in mines, or in factories) and started families before they turned 20. Today, however, adolescence is usually longer and more complex. Adolescence is the transition period from childhood to adulthood; it extends from puberty to independence.Adolescence begins with sexual maturation, which is happening earlier now than it did just a few decades ago.1,2 Adolescence is being prolonged on the other end, too. As more and more students continue their formal education in college and beyond, independent adult status is being delayed longer and longer. Many young people are also waiting longer to marry and start families. In countries where incomes are high (such as the United States), adolescents may depend at least partially on their parents for financial support well into their twenties and sometimes longer.The fact that most teenagers reach physical maturity long before they are able to assume adult roles can%u2014and often does%u2014create some tension and frustration, which you have most likely experienced. One day you may be eager to sample a more adult activity (say, a road trip to visit friends or see a concert), only to have your parents or guardians deny permission because they feel you%u2019re not quite ready for that much independence. The next thing you know, your harmless but exuberant roughhousing with a sibling or friend may be interrupted with a parental admonishment to grow up and act your age. When you want to be an adult, the message is often to be patient and wait. Act like a child, and you%u2019ll hear that it%u2019s important to be responsible and mature.This is not to imply that adolescence is guaranteed to be a time of stormy rebellion and confusion. Teenagers often display tremendous accomplishments%u2014excelling in school, on the job, as volunteers, on the stage, at sports, and in other creative endeavors. The transition from child to adult is jarring for some families, who struggle mightily with issues surrounding the amount of independence and responsibility teenagers should have. But others seem to navigate these waters with a minimum of disturbance and disruption. For most families, the gradual growth in maturity and responsibility on the part of the teen is matched by a growing confidence on the part of the parents.For most teenagers, the experience of adolescence is an exciting opportunity to explore the possibilities of adult life. In fact, four out of five U.S. teenagers agree with the statement, %u201cI would choose my life the way it is right now.%u201d3adolescence The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.How Should You Act?Usually, acting your age is a good thing.Norman Jung/CartoonStock Ltd%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.