Pursuing a career is an essential part of adolescent development. “The adolescent becomes an adult when he (26)_____ a real job.” To cognitive researchers like Piaget, adulthood meant the beginning of an (27)_____.
Piaget argued that once adolescents enter the world of work, their newly acquired ability to form hypotheses allows them to create representations that are too ideal. The (28)_____ of such ideals, without the tempering of the reality of a job or profession, rapidly leads adolescents to become (29)_____ of the non-idealistic world and to press for reform in a characteristically adolescent way. Piaget said: “True adaptation to society comes (30)_____ when the adolescent reformer attempts to put his ideas to work.”
Of course, youthful idealism is often courageous, and no one likes to give up dreams. Perhaps, taken (31)_____ out of context, Piaget’s statement seems harsh. What he was (32)_____, however, is the way reality can modify idealistic views. Some people refer to such modification as maturity. Piaget argued that attaining and accepting a vocation is one of the best ways to modify idealized views and to mature.
As careers and vocations become less available during times of (33)_____, adolescents may be especially hard hit. Such difficult economic times may leave many adolescents (34)_____ about their roles in society. For this reason, community interventions and government job programs that offer summer and vacation work are not only economically (35)_____ but also help to stimulate the adolescent’s sense of worth.
