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Growing Up Too Fast
Helping Your Preteen Transition from Child to Adult
By Ginny Hermann
While today's moms and dads are trying everything from tummy tucks to the newest skin creams to revive that youthful glow, their kids are piling on makeup, sliding into tight clothes, experimenting with drugs and hanging out with older teens – all to feel older.
The youthful desire to appear more mature has been going on for years. Our parents dealt with long hair on boys, miniskirts on girls and the relentless thump of music cranked to deafening decibels. Today's parents fight nymphet "singers," adult-themed "cartoons," the "athletes" of the WWF and others who, like it or not, are taking their place as role models for our young. So what's a parent to do? Well, put down the Oil of Olay and let's look at why our children are growing up too fast and what we can do to reclaim our youth.
Throughout history, a girl was considered a woman when she began to experience menstruation, but today we know that growth comes in spurts with the pace of development going up and down like a seesaw.
"You'll see a child begging to wear makeup and going to concerts one minute, then playing with Barbies or G.I. Joes the next," Jessing says. This is classic adolescent behavior – the feeling of being stuck between childhood and adulthood – and it affects both boys and girls in varying degrees.
