My voice sounds weird - Information for teen boys and parents

You have been noticing it for a while now.  You speak and then suddenly your voice goes lower or higher or sounds like you are strangling a duck.  What is going on?

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Boys experience voice change during puberty, and the change can happen anywhere between the ages of 10 and 15. Typically, voice change begins somewhere around age 12 or 13, or during the middle school years, which can make the experience a tad embarrassing for the child. 

Some of the other boys in your class already have deeper voices and you know that yours is also changing, but how does this happen?

During puberty (which you are now entering or already in) the 'voice box' starts getting bigger.  You will start producing the hormone 'testosterone' and that will cause a lot of changes in your body.  One of them being the change in size of the voice box and your vocal cords will also grow thicker and longer.

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When the vocal cords are thinner when you are younger, the sound that will be produced will be higher that when the vocal cords are thicker - then a lower sound will be produced.  Your voice will start sounding more like your dad's.

You will not only notice your voice getting lower, but you will also see a part sticking out in your neck that moves up and down when you swallow.  This is called the 'Adam's apple' and it forms because of the growth that has taken place in the voice box/larynx and it will tilt at a different angle so that a part of it 'sticks out' which is visible through the skin.

A girl's voice will also get a little lower as they become older and the larynx will grow bigger, but most girls do not have a visible 'adam's (eve's??) apple.

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Now the question is, is there something wrong with you because your voice has not yet become deeper, even though most of the boys' voices have??

The answer is NO.  The same way that there is no exact time when puberty will start for everybody or when changes will happen, it works the same with your voice.  In due time, all boys go through the same changes, even if it takes a little longer for some and faster for others.

You will just wake up one morning and your voice will sound different, so just like babies that potty train and stop drinking their bottles at different ages, teenagers also develop at different ages and at different rates, but at the end, we all grow up to become adults.

Going through puberty is not always fun and a lot of changes that can confuse you takes place in your body, but always remember....

YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST, NOR THE LAST TO GO THROUGH PUBERTY.  Even your parents and grandparents went through it and we all survived.  So hang in there, it does pass.

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If you are a parent with a boy you can get some tips on how to deal with this here.

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