Cara Natterson, M.D.

Kids are growing up faster in every way. For starters, puberty begins significantly earlier than even a generation ago—for both girls and boys. Plus, access to endless streaming content throws an unanticipated wrench into parenting and education. In this talk, pediatrician Cara Natterson describes the down and dirty details of puberty in boys – from what happens to when and why – in conjunction with the phenomenon of adolescent boy silence that emerges when boys begin to develop. This quiet is nothing new: most adult men remember a phase of monosyllables and closed doors, only to emerge out the other end more communicative again. What is new for this generation is a raw exposure to the world around them in the form of things like easy access to online pornography, habit-forming video games, gun violence, and more. Navigating these issues in relative silence can present risks. The antidote, Natterson argues, is open communication.

Puberty isn’t what it used to be, starting with the fact that today’s kids enter this stage an average 1.5 – 2 years earlier than their parents did. But while it’s starting earlier, puberty isn’t progressing any faster. As a result, the path through this stage of life takes years longer than it used to. The conversation around earlier girl puberty has been buzzing for two decades, but the phenomenon among boys has gone relatively unnoticed. In this talk, Natterson, pediatrician, educator and mom to two teenagers herself, shares stories from behind the data to help elucidate why it matters that girls get curves and boys experience surging testosterone in grade school; what it’s like to be the late bloomer; and how unfettered access to online content has changed the way kids are educated about their own bodies and what they will do with them. This talk can be adjusted for educators, parents, or anyone hoping to understand the effects of modern puberty.

It used to be one (often dreaded) talk, but today sex education is everywhere. Schools teach some version of it. Popular teenage shows use it as a premise. Phones have become hubs for swapping nude images and watching pornography. Whether we think about any or all of this as education, it’s how today’s kids are gathering information about sex. In this talk, which can be adapted for parents or educators, Natterson navigates that information download, lifting the veil on where kids are being sex educated and pointing to some of the best – perhaps surprising – resources. Why is this critical? Because the consequences of unchecked information can be tremendous.

Body image issues are often talked about as an exclusively female issue. But the data tells a very different story. Males are surrounded by all of the same images of perfection and these ideals create just as much distress. Now consider the boy going through puberty, completely unsure of what his future body will look like. If he’s thin, he wants to be bigger; if he’s heavy, he wants to be thinner. All of them want to be more muscular, which is why some will turn to body building supplements or even steroids to try to gain bulk.In this talk, Cara Natterson walks through the physiological and mental path of puberty and uses this information to help explain the importance of engaging boys in new conversations.