The teenage years for an individual can certainly be an interesting period in his or her life. From embarrassing sixth grade school photos full of acne and crooked teeth, to barely knowing how to play football and yet somehow finding a spot on the team at the start of high school, to starting to feel all the heat and the confusion with your first love last year. These times are funny, embarrassing, terrifying, and wonderful all at the same time. Children grow both physically and mentally as they become young adults right before their parents' eyes. As a mom or dad, there is no instruction manual for your children growing up, and most of the time you probably have no idea what to expect. Children become moody, confused, sad, and excited, sometimes all at once. Figuring out how to handle these moments can be difficult as parents, but it doesn't have to be. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One theory that makes development easier to understand is Sigmund Freud's theory of psychosexual stages. He separates development into 5 phases: oral phase, anal phase, phallic phase, latency phase and genital phase. The oral stage occurs from birth to 18 months of age. At this stage the baby's pleasure comes from the mouth. The anal phase is next and occurs at 1 1/2 to 3 years. As the name suggests, in this phase pleasure is felt from the anus. After the anal phase comes the phallic phase from 3 to 6 years in which pleasure focuses on the genitals. The fourth stage is the latency stage which occurs from age 6 to puberty. At this stage the child focuses more on social skills and less on sexual interest. The final stage is the genital stage, which occurs from puberty onwards. The genital stage is a time of sexual awakening and is the first time a child begins to seek sexual pleasure outside of their family. Freud used this theory to demonstrate that experiences later in life have to do with things that happened in the early years. Another theory that helps understand development is Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. This theory presents 4 developmental stages that explain how individuals adapt and organize their experiences. The first phase is the sensorimotor phase which lasts from birth to 2 years of age. At this stage, children combine sensory and motor skills to understand the new and confusing world they are surrounded by. The second phase is preoperative and takes place from 2 to 7 years of age. At this stage children begin to integrate words, images and drawings into the other skills they developed to understand the world in the previous sensorimotor stage. The next phase is the concrete operational phase which lasts from approximately 7 to 11 years. At this stage, children really begin to understand how things around them work in a logical way and become better at using objects, not just their own abilities. The final stage of this theory is formal and begins at age 11 and continues into adulthood. This is the time when people really start to think abstractly and truly understand the world around them. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay This theory is very useful in helping understand development because there are rarely cases where individuals do not follow these stages and their outcomes, making them reliable.