Where Parents Talk radio host Lianne Castelino speaks to Dr. Cara Natterson, pediatrician and Vanessa Kroll Bennett, puberty educator, about modern puberty.
DR. CARA NATTERSON
Paediatrician
New York Times best selling author
Entrepreneur
Podcast host
Co-author, ‘This is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained’
Mother of 2
“Simply put, puberty today starts earlier, it lasts longer. And it happens with a cell phone. And each of those elements is a really important aspect. So it starts on average, between eight and nine for girls, and between nine and 10. For boys, it lasts all the way through high school for most kids. So it runs basically a decade.”
VANESSA KROLL BENNETT
Puberty Educator
Write
Entrepreneur
Podcast host
Co-author, ‘This is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained’
Mom of 4
” One of the chapters that resonates most with people is the chapter on brain development. And understanding that a fully mature brain really doesn’t happen until close to 30 years old. And when you’re dealing with middle schoolers, so kids, you know, around 11,12 13, the part of their brain that has already become mature is the limbic system, which is the pleasure seeking risk reward part of the brain, but the CEO of the brain, the prefrontal cortex has another decade and a half or more to become mature.”
