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Early Puberty Often More Hazardous
An anonymous reader writes "CNN is reporting that scientists are taking a look at the social ramifications of hitting puberty early. From the article: "'There is something unique about early maturity (relative to one's peers) that opens opportunities for victimization experiences,' the study's authors write. 'It's not puberty that is what ultimately causes kids to get victimized,' study co-author Dr. Alex Piquero, a criminologist at the University of Florida, told Reuters Health. 'Early puberty seems to open up a different set of doors and social experiences to kids,' he said, explaining that early maturing youngsters may start socializing with the opposite sex and with older, bigger, and stronger youth earlier than those who do not experience puberty early."
Read "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins for an interesting view on this (and all sorts of other diet-related issues). He contends that all the hormones we're feeding our dairy cattle as well as meat animals are contributing to earlier puberty (he was citing 8 year-olds developing breasts, etc.).
4 66893-7535803?v=glance&n=283155
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0915811812/103-4
I wish I still had a copy of the facts sheet used to promote the book. Had all sorts of gems (like the fact that the average American house-cat eats more meat than the average El Salvadorean (IIRC)).
Nothing interesting to say...MUST...NOT...REPLY...ohtheheckwithit.
Hitting puberty early may not be a picnic, but hitting it late is no walk in the park either.
I refer all queries to the outstanding Tv series Freaks and Geeks.
There are all sorts of reasons for early puberty in women. One study found that black girls seemed to be hitting puberty earlier at a much more rapid rate than white girls. Investigation revealed that some of the hair care products commonly used to straighten black girls' hair were responsible, believe it or not. The chemicals in those products, when combined with other environmental factors, would create synthetic estrogens in the girls' bloodstreams, causing them to begin to develop breasts and pubic hair at really young ages (like 5). When the use of the products was discontinued, the breast tissue would disappear and the pubic hair fell out.
Interesting anecdote, however it's actually slightly offtopic. If you check TFA it's actually mostly talking about boys. The victimization in this case is not the rape (or date rape) that you assume. It's about teens getting beaten up, or stabbed in knife fights, etc.
Makes sense, if you think about it. Men, particularly young-ish men, perceive similarly-aged men as rivals, especially where women are present. If you believe a rival is younger than you, you might figure "he's just a little punk" and use your apparent seniority to browbeat him into backing down. If you think he's your same age, on the other hand, you might decide that a more drastic form of "correction" is necessary. At the same time, he might also tend to react less predictably -- being young, he feels like he has more to prove. The whole situation escalates much more rapidly than a confrontation between true peers and quickly turns to violence.
According to TFA though, the main factor that helps early puberty boys avoid this phenomenon is having a lot of female friends.
Breakfast served all day!
"When did our society define the age at which these acts should first occur?" Er... I'm pretty sure there are laws in most countries about the 'age of consent' - the minimum age at which sex is permitted. The law is the most obvious way that "society" has to show when these acts are acceptable. Laws exist against drug use and violence, too, although these are more commonly *never* 'socially' acceptable (i.e. the blanket illegality of heroin or GBH, rather than an acceptable age) Of course, what "society" finds acceptable is a rather wooly term. In the UK for instance, it is illegal for people under the age of 16 to smoke and for under 18s to drink alcohol. However, some people view this as overly restrictive - hence why there is such an issue of underage drinking, as well as smoking and sex. If the entirety of society viewed it as a total taboo, it wouldn't happen as much. An example of this is the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy. Years ago, a young girl getting pregnant, particularly without being married, was a major society no-no, and was less common. Nowadays, 14- and 15-year-old single mothers are freely open about this. Drug use is another area where "society" and the law are sometimes at odds - for instance, there is a notable minority of people who think marijuana should be legalised. What I would have thought would have been a much more useful piece of research would be to find out at what age different people engage in these activities, and relating that not only to the age at which they hit puberty, but also things like social and ethnic groups. But then, I'd be surprised if this research has not been done beforehand.