In my view, there are 4 stages which contribute to the overall development of a person. The first stage, which happens in early childhood, is mental development. Children are naturally agile and flexible, so their high level of physical activity should not be taken to mean they are developing physically. As a matter of fact, their activity deteriorates at this stage. At this stage, they grow mentally, becoming more creative and imaginative.
The next stage is physical development. This happens in late childhood, starting from, or a little before, puberty. A passion for sports exhibited by the children in high school clearly support this view. Children at this stage are all for outdoor activities. They imbibe the qualities of sportsmanship and bond with their peers.
In normal households, where a child is shown a lot of love and care, the child views the world through rose-coloured goggles. She grows up unaware of all the trials and tribulations life holds in store. During adolescence, this view of the world is shattered and the child faces a myriad of emotions. This is the third stage- emotional development. It is during adolescence period that many children undergo the illusion of love, understand the value of friendship and start to cherish their memories.
The final stage, which never ends, is social development. For elite few, this stage begins in high school. For most, this begins only in college, and in a few rare cases, well after college. The child learns to integrate herself with the society she once feared or distrusted.
This is how I view development. Point to be noted here is, I am not saying that only one of these stages will be in existence at any given time. It's just that only one of these stages will predominate while all the other 3 co-exist.
Exceptions: There are the so-called geeks and nerds who never get around to stage 2- physical development and stage 4- social development. They do develop a lot emotionally, much more than their extroverted counterparts. Also, their mental development far surpasses that of an average human being at their age.
A more common exception are the people who just skip stage 2- physical development and get into stage 3 and 4 ahead of their peers. These are the intellectuals who give the geeks and nerds a run for their money and yet, are the life of any social event or party.
Yet another exception that I have come across are the professional sportspersons. They are social, they are intelligent, and they are physically fit. However, they lack in emotional development. Gunning for tangible rewards all the time, they fail to see the intangible rewards in life and develop an appreciation for them.
Due to the advent of video gaming, outdoor activities are all but forgotten. Some kids just spend all their time indoors, and never delve into the physical development stage. Also, some schools neglect the children's physical development, by not providing sufficient time or space for physical training. However, now that people are more health-conscious, training facilities have sprung up and they are thronged by many who missed out on physical development in their childhood.
