Question

How is adolescence different from childhood?

Answer 1

Hint: Childhood and adolescence refer to different stages of maturation and development in life. One period is related to mental growth and another is related to sexual development.

Complete answer:
Childhood is the period from birth till before puberty, when most mental and physical growth of human beings occurs, whereas adolescence is the period starting from puberty and continues up to adulthood, during this time the development and maturation of primary and secondary sexual characters take place.

Additional Information:
1) The developments occurring during childhood are mostly related to mental growth and physical growth.
2) During puberty, several developmental changes are seen in human beings that are mostly related to sexual development.
3) In males, primary sex organs like testes develop and production of spermatozoa also starts. Secondary sexual characters like coarsening of the voice, the appearance of hair in face, underarms, and pubic regions are seen.
4) In females, primary sex organs like ovary develop and starts to produce gametes. Secondary sexual characters are the development of breast, mammary glands, hair in pubic regions and the shrilling of voice takes place
5) The male reproductive system which matures during puberty consists of paired testes, accessory glands, a duct system, and external genitalia.
6) The female reproductive system which matures during puberty consists of ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, vagina, accessory glands, and mammary glands.
7) The production of gametes or eggs starts in females at puberty and this is known as menarche and around the age of 50 years females ovaries stop production gametes and this is known as menopause.
8) The menstrual cycle occurs in females where the uterine lining undergoes cyclic changes and the release of a single egg from either ovary takes place. Menopause stops around the age of 50 years.
A table summarising the differences is shown below:

Sl.No	Childhood	Adolescence
1	Mental and physical growth occurs	Sexual growth and maturation occurs
2	The period from birth till before puberty	The period from the onset of puberty to adulthood
3	No changes in facial appearance, voice, etc is seen	Changes such as growth of facial and pubic hair, shrilling or coarsening of the voice, etc is seen

Note: The period of childhood is from birth up to the age of 13 years and puberty on average starts at the age of 13-15 years and the period from onset of puberty up to adulthood is considered as adolescence.