discoveryofnewlifestage课文
Most of us know about the phases of life which we label to parallel different age groups and life stages: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. We think of infancy before childhood and middle age before old age, with each unique phase bringing its own peculiar set of challenges. These challenges can be overcome by acquainting ourselves with them, such as the child's need to learn, the adult's need to find the right career and build a family, and the senior's need for support and good health care.
In previous times, people didn't have a solid idea of childhood as being separate from adulthood. A hundred years ago, no one thought of adolescence. Until recently it was understood as a norm that their induction to adulthood was completed as soon as they graduated from college. They would now find a sensible job which would lead to a career. Then during this career they would start a family, ideally before they turned.
Today we have an equivalent need to recognize a new phase of life that comes after high school graduation, continues through college, and then leads to starting a family and having a career,
the so-called odyssey years. Recent trends show radical changes as young people are following a different agenda. They take breaks from school, live with friends and often return to living with their parents. Similarly, they fall in and out of love, quit one job and try another or even shift to a new career. So, we need to recognize this new stage, the odyssey years, which many now consider to be an unavoidable stage in reaching adulthood.
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容