What Parents Should Know
Overview
This is a blog that is written on what parents should know about how to teach their children about what occurs during puberty.
What Parents Should Know
Maddie Blew
Jesse Peters
When it comes to puberty, there are many topics that the parent should discuss with their child. Parents should be sure to mention the age it will happen, what changes will be made, and they should also answer the big question: what exactly is puberty? Having discussions like this early and often can help to normalize these hormonal changes and make it easier to have more conversations in the future.
One of the first things I would urge parents to discuss with their children is the rate at which these developmental changes take place and how they can be different for everyone. To be sure that kids don't feel behind in development, I would have parents emphasize that while the average age for girls beginning puberty is 9 or 10 and is 10 to 12 for boys, there is no set age when they should begin puberty (Peper & Dahl, 2013); a child is not behind if they don't start at the same time as all of their friends. It's especially important to emphasize this with females starting menstruation. Emphasizing that everyone develops at a different rate can be crucial to a child's mental state.
Parents should also have a conversation about what changes the child will experience as they reach adolescence and experience puberty. I would first try to describe that puberty is a sudden influx of hormones. The trigger for the start of puberty is a hormone called “gonadotropin releasing hormone” and is released in both boys and girls; it is released from the hypothalamus, a part of the brain. Following that, I would then go into the specifics about what happens during this rush of hormones. There will be an increase in hair growth, as well as rapid physical growth (Peper & Dahl, 2013). There will also be rapid breast development, especially in females (Peper & Dahl, 2013). During this time period there will also be changes within their social circles and how they process social cues. There are also many other internal and external changes that occur during this time period.
Personally, I feel as if I would have benefitted from my parents discussing all of this information with me early on. In fourth grade, my school had us watch a video about puberty. This helped with my understanding of the process; however, I think that having a personal talk with my parents about it as well would have helped us to have more open communication. I would have felt more comfortable talking to them about what I’m experiencing, whether it was with my body or in my social world.
Overall, I would explain to a child that puberty is a time for big changes in both their body and the external world. Having a parent really emphasize what happens and when it happens will be beneficial to the child's understanding of what puberty is and why it’s happening. I would hope that parents have these conversations early enough with their children that, when the time comes for them to start puberty, the child is comfortable enough to ask questions about anything. Lastly, having these conversations will normalize a process that we all experience.
Peper, J. S., & Dahl, R. E. (2013). The Teenage Brain. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 22(2), 134–139. doi: 10.1177/0963721412473755