You know, this is a growing issue
that we see in our culture, especially
around the time of puberty.
Because what we are seeing is, you know, boys are starting
to, and girls are starting to go through puberty earlier,
but what happens if I'm delayed a little bit?
And, and this is kind of the common theme that I would see,
uh, in a, in a maybe a boy who isn't maturing quite as early
as his peers, and that that would be just,
I don't know the timeframe of this,
but my guess is that that is maybe a component of it.
That there are others who are more muscular, they've gone
through puberty, they're growing faster,
and the delay for a boy is, is one of the more challenging.
If you look at the research,
it's more challenging on their mental health
and their perception of self, right?
Because they're more prone to be bullied
because they're more scrawny, they're not
as muscle muscly, whatever term you use there.
And so the, the situation there is, uh, I'm not, I'm not
as big, I'm not as strong as others.
And, and so, you know, they, they may be late bloomers,
but by the time they get into that phase, others are,
others are already been there for a year or two.
And now I'm finally catching up
and I've seen a lot of people ex experience those
types of things growing up.
Probably the most important thing for the your child,
maybe two or three things.
One is understanding that they will go through that phase.
The other part of it is understanding,
and it may not be related to puberty at all.
It may be something else that's influencing them.
Maybe they are skinny and gawky and,
and their body isn't like others.
And so you would want to understand what it is
that they're experiencing that makes them feel
that inadequacy.
And I, I made some assumptions there, but
before I would go into this conversation, I would want,
or as I go into this conversation, I would want to think,
what is my child's concern?
Why would body image matter?
And so I might go in with an open-ended question
that would simply be, Hey, I, I've observed this.
Do you have a few minutes where we could just talk about
what you're experiencing with your body
and how you're seeing yourself in
relationship to your peers?
And an open ended conversation.
Open conversation can create an
environment where they can talk openly.
There are fears, their concerns,
and I do have a caution here.
And the caution is actually this.
I can't tell you how many people
that I've met over the past few years
who have been consuming pornography, and
because they're comparing their bodies to the bodies
of porn stars, their bo, they feel inadequate in their body.
Now, I'm not saying that this parent
and this child is con is that that's the issue.
But I am bringing a red flag to the table
and saying, is it a possibility?
Is that not a possibility? If it's not great?
But again, just asking one of these questions,
why is this a potential challenge for my child?
And it may or may not be related to pornography.
It may or may not be related to puberty,
but it is related to something.
What is that something?
And can you get your child to open up and talk about it?