Help her in teens; She will make you proud when you grow old

Parents naturally want their best for their daughters and so does my mom.

A decade ago, during my teens,  I  used to feel that my mom had a very different issue to be concerned about. She was really very worried about my study not because I was bad in my study. Interestingly she was tensed because she had heard somewhere that those daughters who are very good at their studies suddenly start falling as soon as they enter puberty. I thought it as a myth and my mom too feels it now as she feels that her daughter just maintained her position even after puberty and says that was just a pointless fabrication.  

Recently I heard the same thing from some mothers. Instead of being happy in their young daughter's achievement, they were making remarks like, "choori le ta sano ma gari halche ni, pachi bigri halche chalan nai yesto cha. Thoulo bhaye pachi kt haruko padai bigrincha ra sano ko padai ko matlab nai hudaina." (Why should we be happy on our young daughter's achievement? They are sure to ruin when they hit their puberty. There is no use of appreciating their worthless achievement now) I was saddened with their statement.  

Photo Credit; menstrupedia

I thought for a while with no concrete logic. I didn't try to even interfere them as I didn't have logical arguments against their strong belief. But what I did was come home and searched about the research and findings. That really made me curious. Has this myth ping ponged back and forth all over the world? Do girls really fall on their study after their puberty?

After reading some research what I found was this and that was worth sharing. 

A research paper published by Shannon E. Cavanagh, Catherine Riegle Crumb and Robert Crosnoe on the topic Puberty and the Education of Girls says that it not the puberty but the timing of the puberty affects the academic achievement of girls.

Those girls who have early pubertal timing, that is generally before 12 may (not necessarily) have major social psychological changes resulting grade point average and probability of course failure at the start of high school.

Specifically, early pubertal timing has three main social psychological consequences in adolescence.

First, early pubertal timing affects girls' perceptions of self. By virtue of their earlier transition to adolescence, early maturing girls are more likely to be physically out-of-step (i.e., greater breast development and curviness) with agemates at a developmental moment when both the body and social comparison increase in significance. Thus, early maturing girls maintain a negative self-appraisal, and this, in turn, can heighten their risk for psychological distress and depression (Ge.et. al. 1996; Graber and Sontag 2006)
Second, early pubertal timing is linked with girls' peer relationships. Because early maturing girls and their peers attribute greater maturity to them than is warranted by their age, early maturing girls are more likely to select and/or be drawn into less normative friendship groups, ones that include older boys and girls and are characterized by riskier behavior and lower academic achievement ( Cavanagh 2004: Haynie 2003).
Finally, as a consequence of its effects on girls' psychological well-being and relationships with peers, early pubertal timing is associated with higher levels of problem behaviors, such as drinking, smoking, and sexual activity. That is, early maturing girls are more likely to be embedded in social contexts that offer them opportunities to engage in riskier behaviors. Because these girls had less time to integrate the coping skills needed to manage the new tasks in adolescence, they negotiate these opportunities often without the socio-emotional resources they need to make healthier choices. (Cavanagh 2004; Haynie 2003; Jessor and Jessor 1979).

Looking into these facts, what we can confidently say is that it's natural to see the changes and feel the changes. What is unnatural is to be overlooked. If we do know that daughters are going to have these natural disorders then its better to take care of them, appreciate them, make them feel that they are being matured and they have someone whom they can share their every thing.

Photo Credit; cloudfront

When I read these, I really thanked my mother for being so kind to me in my teen age, for being my friend. I just could share every thing with her. If parents want their daughters to overcome these myths and have them maintain their good attributes, it better they start from now so that when time comes, daughters would freely come and share whatever they are going through and can study with free mind and concentrate on whatever they are doing.

Let me share another interesting fact from a recent international study made by UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) named, Literary Skills for the World of Tomorrow  suggests that girls are reading better than boys through age 15. According to the report, girls had higher reading scores in every one of 43 countries surveyed. The study was based on tests involving 4,500 to 10,000 students in each country. Interestingly, the report also suggests that boys are reading less fluently because of "a lack of engagement." Statistically, 56 percent of the boys read only to get information, compared with 33 percent of the girls. However, nearly half of the girls said they read for at least thirty minutes a day, compared with less than one-third of the boys.  

So guardians, especially mothers, be proud that you have a daughter and do appreciate her achievements and buckle up your shoes to help your daughter during her puberty. Your daughter is definitely going to make you proud.

P.S. Here in the booklet http://www.health.wa.gov.au/docreg/Education/Population/Youth_Health/HP010367_girls_and_puberty_booklet.pdf

are some important things that every girl child should know and even some good ways how parents can share without any hesitation, all the changes about puberty in a way their young daughters can understand.