Last updated on February 23, 2023
Question:
This isn’t really a question but I need to vent. I’m so glad I’ve hit puberty and can’t wait to hit my growth spurt. My older brother constantly bullies and picks on me just because I’m small. I feel that will change when I finally hit my growth spurt. I also get treated way younger than my age by almost everybody, which basically kills my motivation to do good in school
Answer:
You should do good in school because that is who you are and not because you like how other people treat you. People can be mean at times but that should not change who you are.
My Tae Kwon Do instructor was on the short side. Years ago, he told me that he got started in martial arts because he was picked on constantly. He learned to use the bullies’ size against them. But he also learned that you have to limit your responses to the minimum needed or else you also get into trouble. As for myself, I didn’t learn Tae Kwon Do until late in life. When I was young, I learned to “read” situations rapidly and to predict what was about to happen. I managed to avoid a lot of problems that way and the skill has served me well throughout life. Thus, while it isn’t fun to go through hard times, it is those very times that help teach you important lessons.
You’ll eventually grow and these difficult times will be behind you.
Question:
I know. I want to try in school but it’s just demoralizing knowing that everybody in my grade has hit puberty except for me. I’m in the 11th grade and it seems even my cousins, who are in the 8th grade, are ahead of me. I have a question: Are late bloomers ending up with narrower shoulders a proven fact or is it a conclusion you have made?
Answer:
You mentioned that you have started puberty, so you will progress, but you can’t expect to change overnight. It still takes years to get through the various stages. While you are frustrated now that you look younger than your peers, it will become an advantage when you are in your forties. Everyone else will be looking old and you will still be in your prime.
I’ve read the observation that late-bloomers tend to have narrower shoulders in a number of places. For example:
“… the ectomorph, is characterized by a narrow, elongated appearance through the limbs and trunk; their overall shape is well described as linear. Of the three types, ectomorphs have the lowest body weight with respect to their height. They tend to be “late bloomers” and exhibit a corresponding youthfulness of appearance” [A. J. Drenth, “‘Face’ Thyself: How Your Body Reveals Your Personality Type“]
See Do late bloomers and ectomorphs correlate? As I stated before, this is a tendency that has been observed but not an absolute consequence.
Question:
Here’s what I still don’t get. You say late bloomers have narrow shoulders because the body is in a rush to finish puberty. But isn’t the bone age delayed to where their body thinks they’re 12-11 despite them being 15-16? Why would the body be in a rush if they’re basically 12 years old? Sorry for the questions I’m just curious.
Answer:
Your confusion is coming from what you think I meant to say and not what I actually wrote. The human body has several “clocks.” It has long been known that if a person experiences a delay in development due to malnutrition or severe disease when the problem is corrected, the person isn’t always able to make up for the lost time. It appears that at some point development stops regardless of how far the person developed so far. That cut-off seems to be in the early to mid twenties.
It isn’t that the body is in a rush to finish. If you start really late, the typical last things to develop (broader shoulders) may not reach completion before the cut-off point is reached. Thus, late-bloomers tend to have narrower shoulders.