Anna used to wake you up on Sunday morning when you wanted to stay in bed, but now you feel strange if she gets up before lunch. She used to be very quiet, but now she talks all the time-but not to you. She used to hold your hand when you went to visit your friends. Now she doesn't even want to be seen with you when you go to visit your friends. Your Anna might spend hours on the phone or in the bathroom now. At the same time Nick next door has become quiet and dirty. He used to be very polite. Now a simple conversation with Nick becomes very difficult. You've gone from a hero to the most embarrassing adult in the world. Your child has become a teenager!

What makes adolescence(青春期) so difficult? Physical(身体上的) and emotional changes are the reasons that make them change so much. When they are young, children live in a safe and simple land called" childhood". Parents organize their lives. Parents choose children's clothes, take them to places, and spend time with them. They're there with the children when there is a problem. As children get older, however, they learn about another land—an exciting land, called " adulthood". Sooner or later their hormones (荷尔蒙) push them into the open sea—away from the safe land or childhood. Adolescence, then, is the journey from childhood to adulthood. Some find the journey quite easy. For others, it's very difficult.