The Influence Of Adolescence In The Breakfast Club

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What can you learn about adolescence by watching five very different teens spend Saturday detention together? With each and everyone of them having their own issues weather it be at home, school, or within themselves. During this stage of life adolescents are seen as rude, disrespectful, and out of control. But why is this? Is it truly all the child’s fault? Teens have to face quite a few issues while growing up. Adolescence is the part of development where children begin push back against authority and try to figure out who they are or who they are going to become. Therefore, we will be looking at adolescent physical changes, their relationships, cognitive changes and the search for identity as depicted in the movie The Breakfast Club (Hughes,1985).
As we all know children grow and develop at their own pace but for an adolescent is isn’t just pimples or being too skinny. For adolescents their appearance can make or break their entire school experience. They can either be the popular prom queen such a Claire or maybe even the tough bad boy like Bender. But what about the little guys out there what about the not so pretty or not so big and tough guys what about people like Brian? Brian is very intelligent yet he lacks something that the other boys in the movie have and that is size. Brian is significantly smaller than the other two. For a child like Brian it is difficult to be accepted into social circles that involve things that more mature looking adolescents are involved in. Although this is something adolescents have been having to deal with for generations their appearance can cause then tremendous issues. Like Brian, a child will be pushed around talked over or even bullied for their small stature or in ...

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... with look up to her and her friends. These are both examples of the two key components of adolescent egocentrism; personal fable and imaginary audience (Elkind, 1976). Not only do most adolescents thing that the world revolves around them but their decision making skills are lacking as well. At this point in life adolescents are very impulsive and are more likely to do things that others around them take part in.
Lastly, we look at identity without knowing it adolescents are searching for the answers to the question, “who am I?”. Although this is an important part of development for this stage it didn’t just being in this stage nor do adolescents have the capability to figure it all out. While growing up children are pushed one way or another by parents and peers some are pushed towards academics while others athletics. But how influential are parents and peers?

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