Running head: PEPSI Screening 1

EDU 220 PEPSI Screening

Tessie Christie

College of Southern Nevada

October 19, 2017

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Biography

For my PEPSI screening case study I have chosen to do it on Mary King. Mary is

not blood family but is related to me by her mom being a close family friend since I was a child,

I have watched Mary grow over the past years. She was born on February 2, 2015 making her

twelve years old. She was delivered exactly on her due date with no complications. She was born

in Indiana and moved to Las Vegas four years ago. Before moving to Las Vegas her family

consisted of her old brother who is ten years older than her, her parents and her grandmother.

The viewpoints of her grandma had a huge impact on Mary. Once she moved to Las Vegas she

had all of my family as a new found family support which meant she had multiple people to look

at as older siblings and my mother to look at as her aunt. It has been quite a transition to move

from Indianapolis to a city such as Las Vegas. The children that live in Las Vegas have grown up

in a different cultural environment than that of Indiana. Mary went to Ferron elementary school

and is currently in her first year of attending Woodbury middle school. She has no interest in

playing sports but plays the saxophone in school. Mary is not particularly fond of school. She

enjoys walking all the neighborhood dogs. She values my opinion over most of the others in the

family.

Physical Development

At the age of twelve years old children transition into the phase of adolescents. During

adolescence children begin to experience the biggest physical changes in their development.

According to Raising Children, psychical changes around adolescence include puberty

development, breast development, changes in body shape and height, growth of body hair, and

the start of menstruation. Mary has no signs of transitioning physically into the adolescence

phase, her breast have not shown any development, she has yet to start her period although it
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could still be too early for that, and has not had body hair growth under her arm pits. From first

glance you can that her stature is smaller than most people. Based on information provided by

Doctor Halls, the average height and weight for an American 12 year old female is 59 inches and

93 pounds. Marys height is 52 inches and he weight is 80 pounds. Viewing Marys direct

physical stature it is visible that she under the fiftieth percentile.

Mary does not live the healthiest or most active lifestyle. On school nights she goes to

bed at either 11:00pm or 11:30 pm and has to wake up at 6:00 am. During weekend nights she

does not go to sleep until 2:00 or 3:00 am and sleeps all day until 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.

She is getting an appropriate amount of sleep but could be going to sleep earlier to get a more

adequate amount of sleep on school nights. The National Sleep Foundation recommends nine to

eleven hours of sleep for her age but state that seven to eight hours of sleep may be appropriate.

In terms of eating habits there is not much diversity to her diet. She eats breakfast and lunch

every day but struggles to eat dinner and usually does not end up eating. Her food consumption

is mainly fast food and junk food such as McDonalds and potato chips.

For as long as I have known her, she has not shown interest in sports activities. Typically,

Mary is on the clumsier side and lacks in physical coordination so she tends to steer away from

physical activity. Mary has little physical strength due to not having to participate in physical

activities. Now that she is in middle school she is required to take Physical Education which

should help increase her strength. Since she is lacking in an athletic shaped body and is not too

coordinated as of now she has no interest in joining any sports.

Emotional Development

A childs emotional development can have the longest impact on them throughout their

life. Mary is in a stage of her life where her emotional development is shifting. She is moving
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away from being innocently nave to being more aware of her own problems. Doctor Carolyn

Saarni says, Multiple emotion-related components that change over time as the child matures

and in response to changing environmental interactions. As Mary has moved from elementary

school to middle school we have noticed a significant increase in her maturity and responsibility.

We feel this maturity has come with the new environment of a higher grade school. She is losing

the childlike behavior she used to always resort to.

Now that Mary is maturing she has become more self-centered, she is concerned about

what she wants, when she wants it, and who she wants to hang out with. The opinion of others

around her is not valued. In Cengage it states, As a result of the continued influence of

egocentric thought, middle school students are typically self-conscious and self-centered.

Although she has become more self-centered she is not self-conscious, she may be a little too

open. For example she has never had a problem changing in front of everyone for PE. She has

become more sensitive to the emotions of others, she is more self-aware of what she is saying

that could potentially hurt someones feelings.

As humans we all grow from our past selves to our present selves to our future selves.

According to JAnne Ellsworth, This age marks a new tension in harmonizing the past with

hope for the future. Mary has always had her mind set on her career for the future, she has

always wanted to be a vet and that is something that has never changed. Although she looks to

the future she has not come up with a plan to help keep her on a path to the future she wants.

Mary has not looked to the near future for her next idea such as college. She has made it

abundantly clear that she will be moving back to Indiana after high school. It is fantastic to hear

her make plans for her future with certainty.

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Philosophical Development

A major part of an individuals philosophical development is their morale. It has always

been apparent in Mary that her morals were not up to par. She knows the difference between

right and wrong and chooses to ignore it. She has not always been the most honest person in

times that it was necessary. Mary tends to steer away from following the rules and chooses to do

what she wants to do. In Cengage, according to Kohlbergs Stage of Moral Reasoning Mary

would be at Level 2 which says Typical of nine-to twenty year olds. Called conventional since

most this age group conform to the conventions of society because they are the rules of a

society. Mary has many years to still grow into this level but as of now she is rebelling against

the rules of society rather than conforming to them.

Listening to authoritative figures has been difficult for Mary. She chooses not to listen to

her parents, older brother, or aunt. When not listening or arguing with them she does not listen to

the reasoning of their answer. Jean Piagets theory of cognitive development suggests that prior

to age 11 or 12, most children are not capable of philosophical thinking. At this stage in her life

she is just starting to develop the concept of thinking about why something has a result or why

someone tells her no. Currently she does not understand the reasoning behind the answers that

are given by her parents but as she moves into her later years of early adolescence she may start

to question why they gave her the answer they did and start to understand their thought process

behind their answers.

It is noted from Haverford College based on the findings of Kohlberg and Gilligan We

said that the core phenomenon of adolescence as a stage was the discovery of the subjective self

and subjective experience and a parallel questioning of adult cultural reality. The life

experiences that Mary has experienced up until this point have helped shaped her philosophical
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development. She went through a dramatic move that brought a large group of influential people

into her life all with different moral standards which has conflicted her thoughts on specific

things. She also watched her grandma be heavily on drugs and throw out all sense of rules and

order. Mary looked up to her grandma so to her what her grandma was doing was acceptable and

trying to correct that has been difficult.

Social Development

As an adolescent grows out of the younger mindset they tend to start caring more about

friends and peers rather than family. Mary is no exception to the concept of leaning more

towards friends than family. In Cengage it says, The desire to conform reaches a peak during

the middle school years. I have watched Mary start to be concerned with the opinions of her

peers. She looks for acceptance by peers in the way she dresses, acts, her learning, and her

attitude. She looks for acceptance because she is looking to belong and fit in with a group. Along

with acceptance of peers she is looking to accept herself and find what makes her as an

individual.

Now that her shift is towards the acceptance of peers she is also hanging out with friends

more frequently. She would rather go out with friends than be spending time with family. The

American Psychological Association states, One of the most obvious changes in adolescence is

that the hub around which the adolescents world revolves shifts from the family to the peer

group. To feel like she belongs more with her friends she is constantly with them. As soon as

she gets home she runs straight outside to play with the other kids. At night her debate with her

parents is over her wanting to go outside rather than sitting inside with family and doing

homework. There was an instance where she escaped outside through the window when she was

told no. It goes to show how extreme an impact of having friends can have.
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The Cleveland Clinic says, Self-Esteem is how you feel about yourself. The

development of a positive self-image and a healthy self-esteem is very important for making a

successful transition from child to adult. Growing up, Mary was quite a tomboy, she did not

care to get dirty or play in the mud. Her outfits did not match and she did not care. Recently I

saw someone tell her what she was wearing looked bad and she started crying. She has become

over sensitive to what people think and say about her appearance. In the morning she spends

more time getting ready for school. At night she puts more attention in to what she wears and

how her outfits match. Her hair is now groomed more than it ever was, in the past she refused to

brush her hair. Her concern is of what others think of her appearance so she does not get made

fun of, get bullied, and so she can be accepted.

Intellectual Development

Seeing someones strengths and challenges in their intellectual development is one of the

more visible developments such as physical development. Throughout elementary school Marys

parents constantly said she was ahead in school and more mature for her age. To me and others

around us it was apparent that she was behind. In her last year of elementary school we showed

her parents an essay she wrote where more than two-thirds of it was spelled incorrectly and was

grammatically incorrect. Finally her parents pushed the school to test her for special education

and the result was that she needed an IEP. According to Cengage, Because of the psychological

demands of early adolescence, middle school students need a classroom environment that is

open, supportive, and intellectually stimulating. Although Mary had all the essentials for a

successful learning environment, she is not progressing at the rate she should. Now that she has

an IEP it may start to further progress her intellectual development.

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Not only is Mary falling behind in the classroom setting that deals with intellectual

development she is falling behind in considering the point of view of others. Age 12 to 18 is

adolescence, they have more complex thinking, may consider many points of view, this means to

compare or debate ideas or opinions based on the health encyclopedia of University of Rochester

Medical Center. She has not decided to start understanding the viewpoints of others. When she

argues with her parents when she does not get something her way she does not decide to ask their

reasoning behind it. She is not open minded and does not want to think about the thought process

of others or why they decide to make the decisions they do.

The one thing Mary has always thought about was her career choice. She always wanted

to work with animals. Mary changed her mind from a marine biologists, to a zoo worker, to a

vet. Adolescence is a period during which young people begin to consider career options,

although most do not have a clearly defined goal. She knows her career option and knows what

she wants but has not made a clearly defined path of how she will reach her career goals. Mary

has stood independently in the concept of her career choice. No one in our family has had an

impact on her career choice.

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PEPSI Graph

Mary's PEPSI Development vs. Average Development

7

0
Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

Mary's Development Average Development

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Recommendations

Mary is falling behind in her growth. Physical development is based mainly on genetics.

Marys mother has a very small stature to begin with so that will play a role in why Mary is

smaller than the average girl. Getting an adequate amount of sleep will help her growth and

development. At this age she needs to get between nine and eleven hours of sleep because our

bodies do most of their growing while we sleep. She also needs to be on a more consistent

sleeping schedule. Having a well-balanced diet will increase her weight and most likely help her

growth. Eating junk food and fast food can be detrimental to a childs development.

At this age adolescences think that no one understands what they are going through. Due

to her not thinking that others around her understand what she is going through she is more self-

centered and only starting to be more sensitive to the feelings of others. If she is told that others

have been through what she is going through she may be more sensitive and understanding.

Mary needs to hear real life examples of what other people have been through so she can see that

their situations are relatable. Hearing how others coped with their situations may give her a way

to cope with her own situations.

Mary learns her morals from what she sees and hears from parents, family, and peers.

With not having a structured rule system she chooses to do what she wants and when she wants.

She is rebelling against any authoritative figures. Her parents need to have a clear set of rules to

start making her accept authority. Mary also needs her parents to clearly speak about standard

morals that are acceptable.

It is inevitable to worry about what people think about you. Transitioning to adolescence

you worry more about being accepted by what your peers think. Mary needs to remember that

she is an individual. Mary also needs to try not letting others determine her acceptance. She will
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find her thing that makes her special and other will conform around her for example playing the

saxophone and being part of the band.

Being in an IEP makes school more difficult for Mary and more of a struggle. She needs

more support from her parents to be successful in her education. They need to take time every

night to help her with her work and help her with any additional work she is falling behind on

like reading. Her parents also need to follow up with her to see her progress. Marys success will

not only depend on her and her teachers but also her parents.
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References

Raising Children Network, with the Centre for Adolescent Health. (January 06, 2016). Physical

Changes in Adolescence.

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/physical_changes_teenagers.html

Doctor Halls. (October 15, 2017). Girls Growth Chart and Average Weight for Girls.

http://halls.md/chart-girls-weight-w/

National Sleep Foundation. (2017). How Much Sleep Do Babies and Kids Need?

https://sleepfoundation.org/excessivesleepiness/content/how-much-sleep-do-babies-and-

kids-need

Saarni, Carolyn PhD. (2011). Emotional Development in Childhood. http://www.child-

encyclopedia.com/emotions/according-experts/emotional-development-childhood

Cengage, Chapter 3-4c, Emotional Characteristics: Middle School

Ellsworth, JAnne. (1999). Early Adolescence: Being Aware of Being Real.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/reading2-1-1.html

Cengage, Chapter 2-5b, Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Reasoning table 2-4

Pritchard, Michael. (2013). Philosophy for Children. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/

Kohlberg, L & Gilligan C. (1972). The Adolescent as a Philosopher: The Discovery of the Self in

a Post-Conventional World. New York: Norton. (pp. 148-155).

http://ww3.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/p109g/internal/kohlberg.gilligan.html

Cengage, Chapter 3-4b, Social Characteristics: Middle School

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American Psychological Association. (2002). A Reference for Professionals Developing

Adolescents. Adolescent Social Development: Peer Relationship (pp. 21).

http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/develop.pdf

Cleveland Clinic. (2014). Social Development during the Teen Years.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/adolescent-social-development

Cengage, Chapter 3-4d, Cognitive Characteristics: Middle School.

Adler, Liora C. MD & Finke, Amy RN. Cognitive Development in Adolescence. University of

Rochester Medical Center: Health Encyclopedia.

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=90&Content

ID=P01594

Graber, Evan & Kimmel, Sydney & DuPoint, Alfred. (2016.) Adolescent Development. Merck

Manual. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pediatrics/growth-and-

development/adolescent-development