A CNN article shares new findings that kids who experience puberty earlier have a greater risk of being victimized or being involved in physical fights, including being shot or stabbed.  The details behind these trends might surprise you.

Two university researchers have studied the impacts of early maturation.  There are distinct differences between boys and girls, as if we didn’t know that already.  Boys who have a higher number of female friends fair better in the process, however, the same cannot be said for girls.  Girls who hit puberty early tend to have older friends, and are more likely to find themselves in situations they may not be ready for.  There are also notable trends based on family structure.