Why do girls mature faster than boys? The development of girls, however, differs from the development of boys. Boys are ahead of girls.

I had to re-examine the biological side of the issue in more detail, as something had been forgotten. In general, from a biological point of view, girls do “grow up” faster than boys, but this only becomes apparent during puberty. Puberty in girls begins on average at 12 years of age and ends by 17 years of age, while in boys this process takes on average from 13 to 18 years of age. I can’t say exactly what exactly caused this, but I assume that nature wanted to increase the time in which a woman can give birth.

If we are talking about growing up, that is, the psychological development of the individual, which, although associated with physiological development, is to a greater extent social. The link below has a good Wikipedia article on this topic.

If we say that growing up is primarily a social process, then we certainly come to the conclusion that it is mainly culturally determined and depends on the social conditions in which a person grows and develops. Elkonin D.B. there is a wonderful book, “The Psychology of Play,” in which he describes the growing up of a child in the northern tribes. One of the key features of the described culture is simplicity. Men are engaged in fishing, and women “keep the hearth.” So, in such a society, a child becomes an adult at the age of 8-10, when he can independently fish or take care of the house. That is, he becomes a full-fledged member of the tribe.

To be an adult in our social world is the willingness and ability to be responsible for your actions and fulfill the responsibilities assigned to you. Simply put, autonomy, self-sufficiency and integrity.

If, based on all of the above, we look at our society (by ours I mean in this case most of the developed world, from the USA to Germany), then here too the leading activities of women, which are set as a cultural norm, are somewhat easier to master than the activities of men . In the sense that it is easier for the average girl to achieve the birth of a child than for the average man to find a job with a high-paying salary that can provide for the whole family. That is why women mature earlier, because they reach maturity faster in terms of the requirements of conformity to the social role that is given to them by society.

However, if you look at the trends in recent years, which are mainly associated with the blurring of the boundaries between the social roles (and even genders) of men and women. Men begin to take care of the house, and women begin to pursue a career; all this is successfully combined. As a result, the conventionality of division by gender is revealed, the results of many studies are called into question, including the established opinion that women mature earlier.

In general, no, girls don’t grow up faster, that’s a myth.

They are different from the very beginning and develop differently. Boys are usually larger than girls at birth, with a larger head and more weight. Of course, there are individual differences, but now we are talking about average data. Boys begin to walk approximately 2–3 months later, and begin to speak 4–6 months later.

Neuropsychologists, recording the biocurrents of the brain of newborn children, discovered that the brains of boys and girls work differently from the very beginning.

Until the age of 8, boys' hearing acuity is on average higher than that of girls, but girls are more sensitive to noise and it tires them out more quickly. Girls also have higher tactile sensitivity, they are more irritated by bodily discomfort and at the same time they are more responsive to touching and stroking.

Girls' games are more often based on near vision: girls play with dolls, rags, beads, buttons in a limited space; a small corner is enough for them. Boys' games are more often based on distant vision: they run after each other, throw objects into the distance, using all the space around them. Boys generally require more space for full mental development than girls. If the horizontal plane is not enough for them, they master the vertical one: they climb onto cabinets, run along the backs of sofas, hang on door frames... The mastered space is reflected in different ways in children’s drawings. Boys, when drawing the surroundings of their home, show more courtyards, squares, streets, and houses than girls. Girls fill albums with princesses and self-portraits, and boys with cars and military battles.

Nature's Design

Where do these differences in the psyche of boys and girls come from? Scientists believe that this is nature's design. In evolution, two opposing tendencies are always fighting: on the one hand, nature needs to preserve what has already been created, consolidate in the species those characteristics that it needs, pass them on by inheritance and, therefore, make the descendants as similar as possible to their parents. On the other hand, progress presupposes a diversity of descendants, among whom will appear one who will allow the species to adapt to new conditions and expand its habitat. These two trends embody the male and female genders. The female sex retains in its genetic memory all the most valuable acquisitions of evolution, while the male sex, on the contrary, easily loses the old and acquires new ones - some of these acquisitions may be useful in the future, when extreme conditions arise.

To continue the species, many female representatives are needed. Nature “protects” the female sex, but she “does not feel sorry for” the male. All new evolutionary innovations are tested on males. As a result, men have more both beneficial and harmful genetic mutations. For example, more deaf boys are born than deaf girls. Color blindness is also more common in men. There are more boys among children with strabismus, stuttering, dyslexia, and mental retardation.

A man's brain is larger, more advanced in development, but less reliable and very vulnerable. With all changes - both natural and social - men suffer more. But nature endowed them with searching behavior: so that they could survive by finding another habitat, where it was warmer and more nourishing. Therefore, men, including boys, are inclined to explore new spaces, take risky actions, they are smart in difficult situations and know how to make unconventional decisions.

Who is stronger at what?

How do these features of the male “structure” affect the education of boys? In preschool and primary school age, girls “beat” boys in terms of speech. Their speech is better developed, but their thinking is more uniform. Boys think outside the box and in interesting ways, but because they are silent, their inner world is often hidden from us.

Of course, this does not mean that not a single girl will come up with a new idea, but still, fundamentally new problems are better solved by boys and men. But they do not attach importance to the thoroughness of the decision and the accuracy of the design. A boy can find a non-standard solution to a mathematical problem, but make a mistake in the calculations and end up with a bad grade. Girls, like all women, are better at completing typical, formulaic tasks, but they carefully work out the details.

Girls have more fluent speech, they read faster and write more beautifully, but the side of speech that is associated with search (selection of word associations, solving crossword puzzles) is better for boys. Boys have a stronger spatial understanding because performing spatial-visual tasks requires searching. Therefore, boys solve geometric problems better: they mentally rotate the figures and superimpose them on top of each other. And girls, including female teachers, designate angles and sides with letters and then operate with letter symbols and theorem templates.

* * *

If your son masters literacy much more slowly than his older sister did, retells words poorly and writes letters carelessly, do not be upset, this is a feature of the male mind. In addition, boys' childhood lasts longer. By the age of 7, their biological age is a whole year younger than girls of the same age.

Boys have their own path to growing up, but since they are more focused on learning information than girls, you don’t have to worry about their intellectual development.

Important

When a woman teaches a boy, her own childhood experience will be of little use to her; comparing herself as a child with him is wrong and useless. When scolding a boy, state briefly and precisely what you are unhappy with. He cannot withstand emotional stress for long. His brain turns off the auditory canal and the child stops hearing you.

Boys, even very young ones, are less likely to be picked up by their parents and scolded more often than girls. In relation to them, the speech of adults contains mainly direct instructions: “Go away, bring it, give it, do it, stop...”. And with girls, even one-year-olds, parents talk about sensory states: “I like... Do you love? Who is this sad guy?...”

Girls are born more mature than boys and develop faster.

As we know, in the co-ordination of new-born fishes, the latter always li-di-ru-yut, and the individual The female sex must be born more capable in order to survive and not upset the balance.

The difference in development between the ma-ly-sha-mi usually amounts to 3-4. A certain gap is preserved and further: the boys are about to go for 2-3 months post- the same as girls; 4-6 months later we can talk.

By the time of primary school, these differences have been present for 1 year, and by the time of maturity, bio-lo-gi-ches The age of the girl is 2 years ahead of the young people. The childhood of boys lasts longer. And the girls are getting ready to turn into girls, ready to continue niyu ro-da.

Already from the first months after birth, brain function in boys and girls varies greatly - this is seen both in real life and in children’s games.

Their brain mass is also not the same. In sum, these particular ben-nos-ti define a different mental makeup. The girl, as we remember, with sa-mo-go na-cha-la ori-en-ti-ro-va-na for sur-viv-e-most, and the boy - on the far-neck there is perfection and progress.

Mal-chi-kam, depending on the de-vo-check, for the full-valued development of the psyche, the requirement is more simple -ranst-va. Moreover, they master it in all possible ways: they climb up the stairs, they go down into the basement -ly, for-bi-ra-yut-sya on for-bo-ry. The girls are just too lazy to place their “treasures” on it: ku-kol, their clothes -duh, su-duh.

Mal-chi-kam don’t-go-about space. They run after each other, scatter ig-rushes, throw something at the target, using as much all the territory provided to them.

The boys show their activity noisily and sharply, and the girls are quieter, but more effective. According to statistics, in pre-school boys, injuries occur almost 2 times more often than in girls -check.

Already from the age of 2.5 years, boys have become more hostile, sometimes ag-res-siv-us, and external hostility ness feelings are better for girls.

Particularly ben-nos-ti vo-pri-ya-tiya and reaction to load-ki

Particularly ben-nos-ti ra-bo-you brains of girls and boys determine also the difference in perception. The first ones are more sensitive to sounds, noise, they have higher skin sensitivity, they are more irritated by those -forest dis-comfort, and they are more responsive to the touch. Boys' games more often rely on distant vision, and at the same time they make maximum use of all the resources provided space for them.

Boys are more vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disorders that appear at an early age

The wrong path is the usual harsh education of boys “be a man”

We often hear that boys need to be raised strictly so that they do not become sissies. Parental toughness is presented as “the desire not to spoil the child.” But this is a serious mistake! Such ideas are based on ignorance of how and thanks to what children develop. To grow and develop well, a child needs a sensitive adult who cares for him - then, as an adult, he will have self-control, social skills and will be able to care for other people.

Recently, clinical psychologist and neuropsychoanalyst Alan Shore, whose theory is based on the connection between neuroscience data and attachment theory, released a review of empirical research entitled "Our Sons: Neurobiology and Neuroendocrinology of Boys' Development at Risk", which presents in detail all the arguments in favor of a more attentive attitude towards boys.

Why do early childhood experiences influence boys' development so much more than girls' development?

• Boys mature more slowly, physically, socially, and linguistically.
• Formation of neural connections that regulate brain activity during times of stress in boys it occurs more slowly both in the prenatal, perinatal and postnatal periods.
• Negative environmental influences (intrauterine and extrauterine) affect boys more severely than girls. Girls have more innate mechanisms that help them respond flexibly to stress.

Why is it harder for boys?

• Boys feel the stress and depression of their mother more acutely even before birth, and have a hard time experiencing birth trauma (separation from the mother) and indifferent attitude (care in which they do not receive an emotional response). As a result, attachment trauma is formed, affecting the development of the right hemisphere of the brain. Note that the right hemisphere develops faster in the first years of life than the left. It is in the right hemisphere that neural connections responsible for self-regulation are created: self-control and socialization opportunities.
• Newborn boys react differently than girls to what happens immediately after birth when examined by a neonatologist: the level of cortisol (a mobilizing hormone involved in the development of stress reactions) increases more strongly in them.
• At six months, boys show higher levels of frustration than girls, and at 12 months, boys react more strongly to negative stimuli.
• Shore cites research by Edward Tronick and Jeffrey Cohen, who argue that: “Boys require more investment, have more difficulty regulating their affective states, and therefore Male babies may need more maternal support to learn to control their emotions . This increasing demand will place additional responsibilities on the person caring for the little boy.”

What does this data say?

Boys are more vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disorders that appear at an early age (girls are more susceptible to disorders that appear later). These disorders include autism, early onset schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders. These trends have intensified in recent decades ( It is interesting to note that it was during these years that more children began to be sent to day care institutions, many of which do not provide care that meets the children’s needs(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Early Childhood Research Community, 2003).

According to Shore, “Given the slower brain development of male infants, for their optimal socioemotional development in the first year of life, they require a secure bond with their mothers, which acts as a natural regulator of development.”

“The previous pages of this work reveal the idea that differences between the sexes in patterns of brain activity, which then influence emotional life and social behavior, are formed very early in life, and this progressive development is determined not only genetically, but also socially, under the influence of physical environment and social environment at an early age. The brains of an adult man and an adult woman appear to be optimally complementary, allowing people to interact in the best possible way.”

What does improper care of a child look like in the first years of his life?

“In stark contrast to the attachment theory approach is another scenario in which the relationship between an adult and an infant less sensitivity, emotional response and rules than required. This is how an insecure attachment is formed. In the worst case, in the “adult-child” relationship, neglect of the child and attachment trauma (with mistreatment and/or neglect) appear, in which the adult provokes traumatic states in the disoriented, unsupported infant, which have a lasting negative impact on the child.

As a result of disruption of allosteric regulation (response to excess stress), there is an excessive load on the growing brain, neurons responsible for resistance to stress die, and long-term destructive consequences for the child’s health occur (McEwen & Gianaros, 2011).

Relationship trauma in the early, critical stages of brain development thus affects the ongoing physiological reactivity of the right hemisphere, makes the child vulnerable to disorders that occur later in life, and affects regulatory capabilities, which later translates into an inability to cope with socioemotional stressors. . I said earlier that because men's brains develop slowly, they are particularly vulnerable to insecure attachment situations, which can lead to serious social and emotional problems."

How does proper care of a child affect the development of his brain?

“In an ideal development scenario, the evolutionary mechanisms of attachment, maturation during the period of growth of the right hemisphere allow epigenetic factors of the social environment to beneficially influence genomic and hormonal mechanisms at the cortical and subcortical levels of the brain.

By the end of the first year of life and at the beginning of the second, the centers of the right orbital-frontal and ventromedial cortex begin to actively create synaptic connections with the lower subcortical centers, including the activating systems of the central brain and brainstem, as well as the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian complex. In this way, the ability to comprehensively regulate affective states is formed, especially in situations of stressful interpersonal communication.

Back in 1994, I noted that the right part of the orbital-frontal cortex of the brain, the attachment control systems, functionally develop according to different “schedules” in men and women (A.N. Schore, 1994). In any case, the optimal attachment scenario allows for the development of the legal hemisphere system, effectively activating it and receiving the necessary response from the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian complex and autonomous activating components for optimal living skills and the ability to cope with stress.”

1. You should understand that boys need care no less, but more than girls.

2. Childbirth practices in maternity hospitals should be reviewed. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a good start, but it is not enough. According to recent research, there are a number of epigenetic and other factors already at the moment of birth that have long-term consequences.

The separation of mother and child at birth is stressful for all children, but Shore points out that it is more dangerous for boys: “The separation of a newborn boy from his mother causes a surge in cortisol in the body and is therefore a serious stressor.” Repeated separation of the child and mother leads to hyperactive behavior and “changes ... prefrontal-limbic pathways, i.e. the very same areas that are responsible for a number of mental disorders.”

3. The child needs responsible care. Mothers, fathers and educators should protect children from any severe stress, tolerating their expression of negative emotions. The wrong path is the habitual harsh education of boys (“be a man”), the prohibition on demonstrating tenderness in order to “strengthen character,” when we leave them to cry when they are very small and demand that they not cry when they grow up. Little boys need to be treated in exactly the opposite way: with tenderness and respect for their needs for hugs, warmth and kindness.

Please note that premature boys are less likely to interact spontaneously with close adults, so they should be treated with special care to ensure that neurobiological processes return to normal.

4. It is necessary to provide parents with paid leave. In order for parents to care for their children, they need time, strength and energy.

This means providing paid leave to mothers and fathers for at least a year when the child most needs parenting and care. In Sweden, the state policy is different and allows parents to care for their children more and more responsibly.

5. Another aspect that Alan Shore draws attention to is the influence of unfavorable environmental conditions.

Little boys are very susceptible to the influence of toxins that disrupt the development of the right hemisphere (this is plastic such as BPA, biphenol-A). Shore supports Lamphia's suggestion that "the persistent increase in developmental disorders in children is due to the effects of toxins on the developing brain." We must pay attention to the problems of air, soil and water pollution. However, this is a topic for another article.Conclusion

Of course, it's not just boys we need to take care of - all children need it. For the normal development of any child, a cozy nest is needed, where the child feels safe, where he is provided with nutrition, warmth and attention, which reduces stress and allows the brain to develop safely. My laboratory studies the “cozy nest effect” and notes a clear connection between a positive home environment and positive child development and parenting outcomes.

Some differences in the opposite sexes are noticed in the very first months after birth: when smiling, girls can coquettishly turn their heads to the side and are better than boys at distinguishing faces in photographs of familiar people from photographs of strangers (at 4 months). But boys are not capable of this.

Approximately at the age of 3 years 99% of girls' speech sounds clear and correct; in boys, this happens only by the age of 4. As babies learn to walk, boys become more interested in exploring new territories, and most boys are less likely to approach their mother for support.

By 4 years children are already divided by gender and, as before, may no longer play with each other. Girls at this age tend to communicate with younger children, while boys try to join the group of older children.

Kindergarten: Boys occupy more space than girls; they are fascinated by objects where something needs to be assembled or disassembled. Most girls are not inclined to outdoor games and, while boys mainly build tall structures from cubes, girls prefer to build low and long structures.

Boys can put together puzzles 2 times faster than girls and make 2 times fewer mistakes than the opposite sex. The main thing for them is to understand how this object works. Boys want to explore, experience and challenge the world.

Girls' peripheral vision is more developed; they like to sit with toys in front of their eyes. Therefore, if girls calmly play in the room with dolls and toys, then boys will climb on the sofa, climb the stairs or crawl under the bed.

By age 7 The difference in the development of boys and girls is 1 year: girls are ahead. If in elementary school girls are superior in memorizing numbers, speech abilities and accuracy of writing, then already in adolescence boys can easily solve non-standard mathematical problems, thereby outperforming girls.

At school: Due to the fact that girls have better developed speech, at first they are ahead of boys in lessons, but after that they lag behind when boys begin to develop spatial imagination.

During the game: boys love to compete, girls can quarrel during competitions. Boys prefer games that develop their spatial skills, while girls prefer games that develop their interpersonal skills.

When talking, girls use both hemispheres, while boys use one of the two.

After 13 years, girls have well-developed fluent speech and fast reading, their handwriting is more beautiful, but boys still solve geometric problems and crossword puzzles better, and in general they are better at solving fundamentally new problems and think interestingly and outside the box, while girls are better at working out details .