When I was young, my father was my hero. I remember the smell of his cologne in the mornings as he wrapped me in my pink jacket and held my small pink hand in his as he walked me to preschool. The late night smells of pipe tobacco that lingered in the living room just before bed, always made me fall asleep in the arms of safety. I also recall my first day with the Nancy Green Racers, a local ski club. I cried silently underneath my goggles all the way up the lift because the man sitting beside me, for the first time in my life, was not the smiling face of my father. Somehow, over the years I've spent growing up, I've also grown farther from my father. Whether it was his inability to understand the adolescent pressures of being feminine, or my inability to accept his attempts at understanding, the end result today is a void, a gaping hole between us. Relationships between parents and children are difficult things. They vary between one family and the next. They also change with attitudes, choices, and especially during the turmoil surrounding the child's transition to adulthood. The stereotypical views of the relationship between parent and child are greatly altered in Western society by the media and our societal values. We see families as units that are indestructible, constantly supportive, and held together by a bond that cannot change or be broken. This perfect image is not widely supported in reality. Breakdowns between families, particularly between parents and children, are a common occurrence in today's hostile world. Although stereotypical views of these perfect family relationships may seem accurate, they evade reality more often then not. Particularly when focusing on the relationship between parent and child at the time of adolescence.
Adolescence is a crucial point in the lives of children. The definition of adolescence, as David G. Myers defines in his book, Psychology the Seventh Edition, is, " the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence" (Myers 159).