Tonia:  My two daughters, 16 & 13yrs old started shaving the summer between 6th & 7th grade.  I wouldn’t allow them to do it earlier.  Girls want to do "adult" things earlier & earlier!!  My girls would feel the stubbles on my legs and were turned off by how quickly they appear.   Other kids would make remarks to them about us not letting them "do" the things that they were all doing.  Our kids got pretty angry at us, however, we just stuck to our belief that we are not here to be your friend (maybe that will happen when they are much older), we are here to be their parents.  Whenever my kids would say "you are the meanest Mom", I would say "thank you, now I know I’m doing my job -- parenting is not a popularity contest".  We wouldn’t let them watch (most) PG13 movies until they were 13yrs and then we would be very careful with what we did let them watch.  We still do not let our 16yr old watch "R" movies.  We live the example, because we rarely watch "R" movies ourselves.   We wouldn’t let them get their ears pierced until they were 10yrs old.  Kids do things so early that there is nothing for them to look forward to!!  I wanted them to really "want" their ears pierced and be responsible enough to take care of the holes in their ears!!  I hear what you are saying about a 4th grader dealing with a razor when they can’t even brush their teeth.  Those are examples I used to explain things to my girls as well.   However, I would not put it as a put-down, saying "you can’t even brush your teeth, so I’m not going to let you shave your legs" is not real positive.  I would phrase it as a reality check, that we don’t do what everyone else does, we don’t follow what music, t.v. or magazines say to do, the truth is that you are only in 4th grade and your brain is only ready for so much responsibility, like remembering to brush your teeth is hard, so dealing with a razor is hard too.  Actually, when they ask if they could do something, I almost always say "YES", but then I add the "WHEN".  I’d say "Sure you can shave your legs --- when you are almost in 7th grade"!!!  Everthing in life comes with certain boundaries, i.e., shaving legs starts at grade 6/7; driving a car starts at age 16; voting starts at age 18; having an alcoholic drink starts at age 21; sex starts at marriage; saggy boobs starts at age 40; wrinkles on the face start at age 40; colonoscopys start at age 40; no more tanning starts at age 40; knee pain starts at age 40; grey hair starts at age 40!!!!!  You can add your own!!!  I’m actually 46 now and let me tell you, alot more things start to sag!!!!!  Hang in their Tonia!!!  You can’t follow what works for my family or anyone elses, however, our experiences can give you ideas to tailor to your family!!!