POLOKWANE – According to Child Psychologist, Vincent Cloete, different girls are ready for shaving their legs at different times.
Some girls now enter puberty at the age of 8 or 9 and have breast development and menstrual cycles. The quality of body hair changes when a person enters puberty and can be more noticeable than during younger ages.
This may lead younger children to be uncomfortable around their peers and create a desire to start shaving.
Vincent adds that hair colour also plays a pivotal role seeing as blonde hair will be less noticeable than dark hair.
Parents should also be sensitive to notice when their child becomes self-conscious about this topic and should then sit them down and have a talk in order to understand where the desire to begin shaving is coming from (friends, TV, bullies) and make sure that she is aware it is something that needs to be done on a regular basis once you start.
Waiting a little longer may be the better option, but good shaving technique should be taught before a tween or teen (12-14 years old) is given a razor.
Girls this age will more likely have the maturity to avoid cutting skin when shaving.
Obviously shaving is not the only form of hair removal and other techniques such as waxing and using hair removal chemical products can also be used if the parents are not keen on their child using a razor blade.
This is quite a controversial topic, however parents should bare in mind that there is a big social connotation regarding this topic and caution should be given so as to not hurt your child’s feelings or let them fall pray to bullying due to the parent’s refusal to let them shave their legs.
