ready for life . the mother &apos;s face was drawn with anxiety . it &apos;s my little girl , doctor , she said indicating the fair-haired child sitting by her side . I &apos;m desperately worried about her . I think she &apos;s got cancer . the doctor showed no emotion . and what makes you think that ? he asked . well , said the mother , she &apos;s developed a lump in her chest . it &apos;s getting bigger , too . that is how cancer starts , is n&apos;t it ? how old is the child ? asked the doctor . just nine years . the doctor completed his examination . he was smiling when he spoke again . it &apos;s certainly not cancer , he told the mother . your daughter &apos;s growing up , that &apos;s all . the swelling is the beginning of her figure . this incident , which took place in the Harley Street consulting-room of one of our leading children &apos;s doctors , is no freak case . nor is it unusual in 1961 Britain . for the truth is that in the last few years a tremendous upheaval has shaken our understanding of child development . today , children are growing up - physically - far earlier than their parents did . and as breast development is normally the first sign of puberty in a girl , it is not unusual to find this starting as young as nine or ten . some parents can not accept this change in their children . earlier puberty is a subject that is proving of enormous interest to the medical profession , but for some odd reason it is one that seems to be passing by the most important people of all - apart from the children - the parents . today &apos;s parents can not seem to accept that the girl who starts menstruating at eleven is not super-advanced , that indeed they must be prepared to expect this to begin round about this time . for these are the startling facts : girls are developing earlier , at the rate of four to six months earlier every ten years . this means that biologically they are now growing up two to three years earlier than they did at the turn of the century . boys are advancing even faster . in fact , it is now getting quite difficult to find choirboys old enough to behave in church who can still sing treble . children are simultaneously getting increasingly taller and heavier as the years roll by . for example , on an average , a girl of eight in 1959 was as tall and heavy as a girl of eight-and-a-half in 1949 . and in ten years the average height of a ten-year-old has increased by half an inch , the average weight by three-and-a-half pounds . nor does the advance show any signs of halting . in fact , it may well be that by the time these children have their children , the majority of girls will be maturing at ten . doctors who are delving into the reasons why this revolution is taking place have come up with some intriguing theories . many say it is because today &apos;s child is much better fed than her ancestors . school milk , they say , has quite a bit to do with it . others believe the reason is climatic . it &apos;s known that overheating delays the growth of laboratory rats , and it &apos;s been suggested that children now grow considerably faster because their parents do not overclothe them as they used to in the old days . modern psychiatrists , however , have an even more interesting theory . they say that it &apos;s the direct result of easier relations between the sexes . there is more conversation about sex between boys and girls and a far more natural acceptance of the once unmentionable facts of life . this theory is borne out by the fact that children in co-educational schools often mature earlier than those who are segregated . getting it through to some parents that earlier puberty is now a fact is proving quite a headache to doctors and teachers . most teachers have very decided views on the subject . like one of our most go-ahead principals , Miss K C M Gent , headmistress of the four hundred strong girls &apos; grammar school in Lichfield , Staffordshire . girls start here at eleven , and by the end of the first year at least fifty per cent of them have reached puberty , many having started before they even arrive , she told me . because of this I have made it a rule to see each set of parents individually before the child begins her first term , she went on . I tell them that I insist on every child knowing the facts of life before she starts at my school . if the parents find it difficult or embarrassing to talk to the child I give them a booklet which the child can read . almost every mother I meet seems surprised that I insist on this so early . they can n&apos;t seem to take in the fact that girls are maturing so quickly . but once they realize the truth of it they &apos;re glad to co-operate and teach their daughters . now more than ever children crave wise guidance . though we may think it a good idea that children should grow up more quickly , let none of us imagine that earlier puberty does n&apos;t bring its own set of difficult problems . the toughest of these is this : that though physical development has advanced so rapidly social development has stood still . a girl of eleven today - even if she does happen to wear a thirty-four-inch bra - is still , to her mother and father , a child . and that &apos;s the way society looks at her , too . so who can blame her if she gets all mixed up ? she has not had enough experience of life to cope with the new process . she has been well protected in the junior school , and at home she has always been regarded as a kid . no wonder , then , that she does n&apos;t know whether to play with toys or go out with boys . no wonder she craves wise parental guidance and friendship more now than ever before . which brings us back to the mother . what exactly are the problems likely to come up when she suddenly finds herself confronted by a little woman of twelve ? how can she cope with the child &apos;s emotional growing pains in the kindest , most sensible way ? how can she tell her daughter that , physically , she is now a woman ? I sought the answers from doctors and psychiatrists , teachers and social workers . continuing ready for life by Rosalie Shann . adolescence is one of the most important times in a woman &apos;s life . it is a fact that girls are developing earlier at the rate of four to six months every ten years . this means that biologically they are now growing up two to three years earlier than they did at the turn of the century . boys are advancing even faster . and this creates a whole new set of problems for the parents . everyone is agreed that as puberty advances so they must also advance their attitude to the growing child . a girl may well be emotionally unready for puberty because that emotional development is still way behind physical development . her emotions have given her no warning of imminent changes . but though she may be unprepared her mother must not be . it is essential she tell the child the facts of life in time , not just the usual item about where babies come from , but what puberty is , what changes will take place , and why . what exactly is meant by in time ? well , it varies from child to child , but generally speaking changes should be discussed as soon as they begin in the child . the first sign is invariably the beginning of the development of the bust . as soon as a mother notices this she should talk to the girl , perhaps before if the opportunity has arisen , but never later than this . a child , incidentally , is far more likely to accept the facts naturally and easily and without embarrassment if she is used to seeing her mother undressed . then as soon as menstruation starts the mother should explain to her daughter all over again what it is and why it happens . physical changes indicate the child &apos;s approaching maturity . doctors say it is important to explain to the child twice - before menstruation happens and when it does - as she can not fully appreciate the facts the first time . above all , a mother should appear pleased about her daughter &apos;s physical changes because it indicates approaching maturity , and this is something , the mother must imply , to be looked forward to , not dreaded . if a mother views the onset of her daughter &apos;s adolescence with misgiving , believing - because of what she &apos;s heard - that it &apos;s always a troubled time for all concerned , then this fear will be communicated to the child , and the inevitable obstacles will be anticipated and probably enlarged . a fact mothers must also be prepared for is that different levels of maturity exist side by side . this can be extremely tricky to understand , both from the parents &apos; and the child &apos;s point of view . there often is , for instance , a child who can partake in quite adult activities , such as intellectual conversation , yet at the same time spend hours reading her childish comics . moods vary , too , and with such speed that the poor parent is often at a loss to keep up . one minute the child is lost in desolation , quite sure she is a failure in every way . the next , while the parent is still trying to comfort her , she is brimming over with self-confidence and a brand new bout of enthusiasm . by far the best , and most sensible , way for mothers to face this time is to accept that the child is changing , and to welcome that change . this , of course , is far easier said than done , for , whatever the psychiatrists say , it cuts the heart when a dearly loved child , once so docile and parent-attached , suddenly wants to strike out by herself , choosing her own friends . but it is some compensation to realize that this desire for independence is a good thing for the child . it shows she is anxious to stand on her own feet and make a place for herself in the world later on . if her naturally healthy desire to grow up is frustrated she will either lose her urge to be independent or she will rebel and go her own way anyhow . and this last spells trouble in the home . a child psychiatrist was adamant on this point of independence . so many mothers , he said , make the mistake of expecting to know everything about their daughters . the brutal truth is that a girl will not grow up normally unless she has a secret life away from her parents . in fact , the daughter who tells her mother everything is very suspect from the psychiatrist &apos;s point of view because she is not being allowed to grow naturally into an adult . it &apos;s enlightening , and a little shattering , to learn from the psychiatrist that that state which mothers boast about , we &apos;re more like sisters than mother and daughter is not one to be envied . indeed , this very closeness and dependence is considered detrimental to normal development . it &apos;s far more healthy for girls to giggle among themselves and have best friends from their own classmates , the psychiatrist told me . the mother just must n&apos;t be that best friend because it suggests that the daughter is still clinging to her . I know this is a bitter pill for mothers to swallow , particularly those who are bringing up daughters alone without their husbands . I often advise these women to get themselves an interesting job . just for the sake of the girl . many young women who finally end up with nervous breakdowns or other mental disorders do so just because they have never broken away from their families . you have no idea how many girls come here who have never been shopping by themselves , another psychiatrist said . a young person should be allowed a lot more responsibility and freedom from the age of ten or eleven onwards . she should be able to choose some of her own clothes and perhaps her own wallpaper . she must be able to spend her own pocket money the way she wants , and keep a diary which no one will read . 