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This study endeavoured to explore the sentiments of secondary school adolescent learners regarding the way they are generally treated by significant others such as parents and teachers in Masvingo urban schools. The researchers were primed to embark on the study after realising that adolescence is a unique developmental stage in which the adolescents have unique emotional, physical, cognitive, social, spiritual and moral needs. The study was anchored on Erikson's psychosocial theory and Rogers' person-centred self-theory. The descriptive survey research design was employed with focus group discussions as the data gathering instruments. A sample of eighty (80) adolescents comprising 40 boys and 40 girls was selected using the stratified random sampling method. The data gathered through focus group discussions was subjected to thematic data analysis. The chi-squared test was also employed to explore the association between the level of adolescence and the adolescents' attitudes towards adult control and guidance. It was established that adolescents to a great extent harboured negative sentiments towards the manner in which their teachers and parents treated them at times. They pointed out that some of the norms and values emphasised by their parents and teachers were virtually outdated and anchored on stale information. The adolescents intimated that sometimes their teachers and parents deliberately prevented them from capitalising on the available technological innovations. The researchers recommended that teachers and parents should take their time to study the developmental needs of adolescents in a technologically dynamic world so as to sufficiently understand how best to help the adolescents.

Keywords

Teenager, Adolescence, Peers, Identity Versus Role Confusion, Empathy, Unconditional Positive Regard, Parenting Styles

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