THE TRANSITION experience that bridges the gap between
childhood and adulthood is the subject of never-ending
study. The physiological experience of puberty, the psychological
experience of attaining maturity, and the sociological experience
of adjustment of those in the teen ages is an ever-present challenge
to parents and teachers as the generations succeed each other.
Still there is not enough understanding of the nature of this
critical period in the life cycle of man.

In the study of adolescence there has been too much emphasis
on the physiological, too little on the social and psychological;
too little understanding that experience is more than a function
of physical maturation and inherent disposition; too little under-
standing of the impingement of the social processes on the
developing organism; too much emphasis upon adolescence
and youth as a state, a period; too little upon it as a dynamic
process which leads the growing organism through a molding
series of social experiences.

A great deal is to be gained from an understanding of the
social world in which adolescents and youth function, and in
seeing how interaction there affects the transition to adulthood.
Teacher training must deal more realistically with experience
factors in the development of adolescents and youth. Compared
with these, understanding the physical organism and inborn
behavior mechanisms is of only incidental importance. A compre-
hension of the functional social situation is a first step to real
understanding.

-v-