Ask Sam letter

Hi there,

During puberty your body will change – as a boy you might grow several inches a year for a few years and then more slowly in your later teens. How quickly you grow and how tall you’ll be as an adult is different for everyone so it’s best not to compare yourself to your friends.

Puberty is when your body begins to develop and change to become an adult. For boys, it usually begins between the ages of 8 and 14 and lasts for about 4 years. Part of puberty is growing in height, but it's hard to predict how tall you’ll grow. You might have one or several growth spurts or grow more gradually throughout the years.

Sometimes puberty can happen earlier or later and stopping growing for a short period of time is normal, but if things don’t change or you’re worried, your school nurse or your doctor can tell you whether your height is within the expected range for your age or whether there’s anything causing a delay.

While you’re going through puberty, your friends will be too. You’ll grow and change at different rates so although it’s normal to want to be the same as your friends some changes will happen at different times and in a different order. Everyone’s body is different, some people are tall and some are short – but one height isn’t better or worse than any other.

Whatever changes are happening to you no one should bully you. Being picked on is a type of bullying and it can have a negative effect on how you feel about yourself and it can take time to rebuild your self-esteem. We have some advice about bullying and you can always talk to one of our counsellors if you are worried about any changes affecting your body and want more support.

I’m glad you chose to write to me and I hope my advice helps.

Take care.

Sam