When Does Puberty Begin - Essay Example

The societal impact of the decreasing age of puberty for both sexes is absolute and guaranteed. Social awkwardness occurs naturally if a teen girl develops breasts before the rest of her girlfriends her age, or if a teen boy develops a hoarse voice earlier than the other boys his age. This could affect their self-esteem as well, thus presenting a social impact. The article “Childhood Sexuality: An Interpersonal –Intrapsychic Integration” by Singer presents two implications on society by early sexual maturation. First, childhood sexuality lays the foundations for adult sexual pleasures. This means that if a teen girl or a teen boy reaches the age of puberty earlier than the accepted age, this would lead to an earlier advance to adult sexual relationships that can heavily impact society in a somewhat negative manner. In fact, it can even imbalance society in a way that would be seriously distressing for the parents of children who sexually mature earlier than necessary. Second, as the level of psychological development is also decreasing with the decreasing age of puberty, the child can get over-stimulated even on the brief display of public affection. This occurs in part due to their immature ego because they naturally have not had enough time for the proper development of their self-regulatory and defensive senses owing to the earlier age of puberty.