Chapter 2 Assignment - Difficulties for early-maturing girls PDF

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Assignment from Professor Stephen Bernardini's class, regarding the difficulties that early-maturing girls may experience....

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3. In the light of the difficulties often experienced by early-maturing girls, can you think of anything families, communities, or schools could do to assist them? When young girls start maturing earlier than the rest of their peers and friends around them, it can pose problems for them socially and behaviorally. They need more support at this time from their families, friends, school, and other adults who can help them to better understand what is going on. As far as assistance within schools, I think there should be more of an effort made to educate adolescents about the reality of puberty, especially about how and why it can occur early in some people. I think that classes about adolescent health and puberty should be taught even earlier than they already are in order to prepare younger people about what they are going to experience in the future. There are already efforts to educate adolescents on the effects of puberty, but it isn’t often that support is given through education about those who experience it earlier than their peers. In addition to teaching adolescents about the changes that occur during puberty, schools should make them aware that it’s normal to go through those changes earlier than expected. Some of the behavioral issues that early-maturing girls experience can come from the feeling that they are alone during these changes. It is difficult enough to go through puberty when it can be a taboo subject with many people, but when one is going through it alone, they can be especially vulnerable to negative effects. In order to help young girls during this time, I think it’s also really important for their families to step in and offer extra support. Young girls who are biologically maturing earlier than their peers might feel embarrassed, nervous, and especially alone. They might not want to talk about these changes, but if their family members make it an open conversation, the adolescent might feel more supported and comfortable talking about it. If families, communities, and schools do anything to assist early-maturing girls during this time, they should offer supportive and non-judgmental communication. Give them free access to realistic education that is not just from a textbook; conversation will allow adolescents to feel like this is a real experience that humans go through....