Why are girls getting their period earlier?

Navigating puberty can be overwhelming (it's a LOT to handle!) especially when girls as young as seven are dealing with changes that could potentially have a big impact on their physical and psychological development.

- Ria Singh

I was 11-years-old when I got my first period. I didn't exactly know what was about to hit, but I was intuitive-something was definitely up. How, you ask? Oh, it wasn't rocket science. For starters, there was a mysterious new addition to my beloved stack of The Princess Diaries and The Twilight Saga (yes, go ahead and judge me) volumes... a pink book called Just for Girls, which my mom had purchased. It covered all the awkward Bs-breast development, body hair, breakouts, boys, and ohTHE period talk, of course. Then, there was my dermatologist, who-during my routine checkup-told me, "You haven't started your period, right? You will in a few months. Gear up!" And yet, these not-so-subtle hints could not help me escape the overwhelming feeling of getting my first period.

It wasn't exactly a hot topic with my teachers and friends either. I have a twin brother, and almost all of my mom's friends have sons, so "period talk" was non-existent. Basically, I was in for a solo roller coaster ride when it came to all things menstruation. It didn't help either that I was an early bird at the "period party-only a few girls in my class had started theirs, and those who did, their stories were portrayed rather grotesquely. I remember this one instance when a girl got her period at school. Instead of using the moment to educate the class, our teacher thought it was genius to "evacuate" everyone and have us line up in the hallway. All this, while the poor girl sat alone inside and the cleaner mopped up the "evidence. "Naturally, this only sparked our curiosity; a classic case of the Streisand effect. Rumours spread like wildfire from "is it a massacre?" to "is it a bloodbath?" or "is she dying?"