With sexual awareness also, on the other hand, there comes a sense of potential inner power, of creativity, which, if not directed into right channels, may easily be diverted into destructive ones. Should the mind, during this third stage, be brought to repudiate the idealism it held as a younger child, it may reject ideals altogether and employ all of its creative power cynically, in acts that are deliberately negative. Advantage may actually be taken of the changes occurring in his body and psyche with the advent of puberty. His awakening sense of inner power can be directed toward making his ideals practical, instead of rejecting them negatively as the figment of dreams. Early dreams must now be translated into dynamic action refined in their definition, perhaps, but not abandoned cynically.
Adolescence needs a cause or, better still, an abundance of causes.
It needs something to do. Adolescence, when approached and understood rightly, is a wonderful time, rich with some of life s greatest opportunities for self-development. The im portant thing to understand is the youth s need for action, and not for mere theories. Physical discipline is important. So also is any call to good deeds without the expectation of personal reward the greater the self-sacrifice entailed, the better, provided, of course, that the child s welfare isn t endangered.