Adolescence as a Construct

How does approaching adolescence as a construct change the way we treat and understand adolescence? What are the positive and negatives associated with our approaching adolescence this way? Will this approach cause us overlook individual needs or embrace them?

From TCMSR:

The social, historical, and political approach to the study of youth emphasizes that the meaning of youth like the meaning of democracy itself is in playand is struggled over by different groups with competing material and ideological intersts. The social construction of adolescence is of prime importance to those involved in and concerned about middle school.