On that note...when I was 11 I knew someone who started her periods...she thought she was haemoraging and going to die...she was about 13. Neither her parents or the school had ever tought her about periods...
Ah, but when is the correct age at which to tell girls about periods... As it seems increasingly likely that the onset of puberty in girls has links to weight and nutrition, and we live in an increasingly well-fed society, there are concerns that puberty is starting at an increasingly earlier and earlier age... I was talking about this a few weeks ago with my Year 8 students... talking about the fact that puberty was traditionally expected to occur in most students between the ages of 12-14... however, it is not that unusual for them to wait until even 16 before puberty sets in... perhaps more worryingly, there are increasing numbers that find puberty kicking in at 10 or even as young as 8... So at what age is it best for the education system consider best to cover the issue of puberty and periods and so on?... This is another no win situation... tackle the issue early on and some parents will simply withdraw their children from the lessons because they will fear that they are too young and they are being taught "adult" issues at too young an age... leave it until mid-teenage years and we run the risk of many students already having gone through puberty so its too late... I've been discussing this with my Year 8s (who are either 11 or 12) and they can't agree on the best time for this information... some feel it would have been better in their primary schools... some disagree strongly with that suggestion and feel that it should only be a secondary school issue... Difficult, eh?... Fly... . .
