ABSTRACT
Children start going through puberty between 8 and 14, with girls typically starting earlier. This chapter explores influences and offers strategies of how parents can navigate critical years as a child changes into a teenager. Children start going through puberty between 8 and 14, with girls typically starting earlier. Puberty can be distressing to parents, but it's helpful to keep in mind that it's more distressing for the person going through it. According to the Journal of Developmental Psychology, the highest rate of peer influence is between ages 10 and14-right during puberty. In the book Shame, Stanford professor Mali Mann writes about the particular shames and feelings that come with puberty. Tweens are observing the trends closely and know much sooner than any online think-piece what’s “cool” and “not cool.” Tweens are highly influenced by their peers, a developmentally appropriate milestone that can affect technology use in the home.
