The Seven Year Stretch: How Families Work Together to Grow Through Adolescence – 1997 by Jennifer F. Wyatt (Author), Laura S. Kastner (Author)
Introduction
The book discusses adolescents in the context of the family by trying to understand and explain to parents why some teenagers end up being excellently adjusted while other teenagers end up often in trouble. This includes explaining why some teenagers are habitually impulsive in actions and repeatedly break the rules while other teenagers are law-abiding individuals. It expounds on drugs and alcohol and explains why some teenagers become addicted, but others experiment out of curiosity. It moreover distinguishes rebellious tendencies among teenagers at the same time differentiating them from deeper individual problems. This essay discusses the main themes in the book, along with a discussion about its strength and weaknesses.
Main Themes with Examples
One of the most prevailing themes in the book is parents’ own unresolved issues that are often portrayed in the temperament of parents to their children. This results in contention between the teens and their parents. Topics such as trust between parent and teenager, teenagers character building and the issues revolving around sexuality all play a role in the building of a teenager into an adult. The unresolved issues by parents, as evident from the book, further results in challenges faced by adolescents ranging from adolescents…………………………………….