I coach a group of girls who are 12-13 yo. I recently made the girls fill out a questionnaire about their strengths and weaknesses, fears, goals etc because it's not always easy to get those teens talk to you. There was also free space to write about any worries, ask questions and tell me anything confidentially.
One girl wrote she doesn't want to come to practice when she has her periods. She wrote she's afraid that all the other girls get to know she has started already and they'll start to bully her... I don't know if any of the others have their periods yet but I'm pretty sure two or three may have or they'll start soon.
I felt a bit unsure how to deal with this situation and this subject. I definitely understand that she's very uncertain about her changing body and feels bad because she's the first one to show signs of puberty especially when some of the 12 year old girls still look like children and she certainly doesn't. She's also shy and quiet and her mom has told me she thinks the other kids judge her doings at practice etc.
I would like to discuss with her about this but at practice it's almost impossible to get to talk privately. And this is a subject we don't want any other ears to hear because the situation is embarrassing for her already. I don't want her to miss an entire week of practice every fourth week but I want to tell her I understand how she feels and that it is OK to miss practice sometime if stomach is hurting very very bad. I would also want to make her understand that other girls would not bully her about it even if they somehow get to know she has her periods...
Should I have a puberty talk with the whole group? How would you deal with this? They don't even wear leos at practice so that's not a problem, but they wear long practice tights that can be seen through a little so I think she worries the other girls will notice she wears a sanitary towel during periods. I still think that the other girls wouldn't bully her about periods, but what do I know??
One girl wrote she doesn't want to come to practice when she has her periods. She wrote she's afraid that all the other girls get to know she has started already and they'll start to bully her... I don't know if any of the others have their periods yet but I'm pretty sure two or three may have or they'll start soon.
I felt a bit unsure how to deal with this situation and this subject. I definitely understand that she's very uncertain about her changing body and feels bad because she's the first one to show signs of puberty especially when some of the 12 year old girls still look like children and she certainly doesn't. She's also shy and quiet and her mom has told me she thinks the other kids judge her doings at practice etc.
I would like to discuss with her about this but at practice it's almost impossible to get to talk privately. And this is a subject we don't want any other ears to hear because the situation is embarrassing for her already. I don't want her to miss an entire week of practice every fourth week but I want to tell her I understand how she feels and that it is OK to miss practice sometime if stomach is hurting very very bad. I would also want to make her understand that other girls would not bully her about it even if they somehow get to know she has her periods...
Should I have a puberty talk with the whole group? How would you deal with this? They don't even wear leos at practice so that's not a problem, but they wear long practice tights that can be seen through a little so I think she worries the other girls will notice she wears a sanitary towel during periods. I still think that the other girls wouldn't bully her about periods, but what do I know??