GROWING UP. What s it all about?

Transcription

1 GROWING UP What s it all about?

2 What is puberty??? Puberty is the time when you start to change from being a child into being an adult. Hormones (chemicals produced by your brain) cause your body to change and grow. They also affect the way you think and feel about things. Sometimes young people feel embarrassed about the changes they are going through. This is normal, but remember everyone goes through the same thing at some point. Knowing what to expect can make it easier to deal with when it happens. When does it happen? Puberty can start anytime from when you are 7 and up to when you are 16. More often, young people start around the age of 11. Not everyone develops at the same age or at the same speed. It can take between 2 and 4 years to go through puberty. Often girls will develop sooner than boys. 2

3 Feelings Leading up to and during puberty can be a confusing time. You might find you feel happy one minute and sad or confused the next. Sometimes you will feel good about yourself and other times you wont feel so good. This is part of growing up and is partly due to your changing hormones. As you get older you will find it easier to cope with these feelings. Who can I talk to? A parent or carer probably knows you best and should remember what it is like when they went through puberty too. If they haven t talked to you about growing up already, it doesn't mean they don t want to, they may be just waiting for the right time or for you to ask questions. Or you might want to talk to an older brother, sister, friend or someone else you feel you can trust. If you re worried about something and just want to find out more, try talking to someone you trust at school, like the teacher, or school nurse. If you are involved with a youth organisation, talk to one of the adults there. 3

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6 How our bo Before puberty Start of puberty Teenager Adult 6

7 dies change Before puberty Start of puberty Teenager Adult 7

8 Periods Starting your periods can feel like a big change. For most girls it happens between the ages of 8 and 14 years, sometimes later. Although you are too young to think about having a baby now, your body during puberty starts to get ready for this. Each month a tiny egg (too small to see) is released from one of the ovaries and it moves down the fallopian tube (look at the diagram on page 11 to see where these are in your body). At the same time the lining of the uterus is becoming thick and soft. When your body knows that fertilisation with a sperm has not taken place the egg is reabsorbed into your body. The lining of the uterus passes out of the body as blood through the vagina. This is called having a period. You may bleed during a period for about 3 to 7 days. The amount of blood varies but often is only as much as 3 to 4 tablespoons. Some girls get a whitish stain on their pants, this is a sign that their periods may soon begin. Sometimes your breasts get a little tender before your period is due and you may have some stomach cramps. This is all normal and a soak in a bath or a hot water bottle might help to alleviate any discomfort. These symptoms will disappear shortly after your period. To begin with your periods might not come very regularly but after a while they settle down and come approximately once a month. During your period you can use sanitary towels or tampons to soak the blood up and they have to be changed every 2 to 3 hours. Most girls start with sanitary towels as they are easier to use when you are new to managing your periods. It is a good idea to speak to someone at home before your periods start so you can be prepared. There is a huge range available for you to choose and it is a good idea to check out which is best for you. Its important you remember to dispose of sanitary towels in the correct way (not flushed down the toilet). There are special bins in school and public toilets where you can dispose of sanitary towels. At home you can wrap them up in tissue paper and dispose in the dustbin. 8

9 Wet dreams During puberty the penis gets thicker and longer, some boys worry about the size and although size does vary a little, it is not that much. The testicles also grow bigger and start to make millions of sperm every day (look at the diagram on page 10 to see where these are in your body). Sperm are contained in a creamy fluid called semen. An erection is when the penis stiffens. This can happen sometimes in the morning or when you think about people or see pictures you like. It can also happen at any time of the day for no apparent reason. Ejaculation is when a small amount of semen is squirted out of an erect penis. The amount varies but it is usually less than a teaspoon. Sometimes ejaculation happens at night during sleep, this is called a wet dream. Wet dreams are completely natural, however not everyone has them and this is normal too. Sometimes you don t realise you have had a wet dream until you wake up in the morning and find a damp patch in your pyjamas. The penis is also used for urinating but urination and ejaculation cannot happen at the same time. It might be a good idea to talk to someone at home about how the body is preparing in puberty so if you have a wet dream or an erection you don t feel so embarrassed. 9

10 y m o t a n a r u Yo Male Bladder Prostate gland Urethra Vas deferens Epididymis Testicle Scrotum 10

11 Female Fallopian tube Womb lining (Uterus) Womb (Uterus) Ovary Fallopian tube Ovary Vagina Cervix The vulva is the area between a girl s legs Clitoris (sensitive bump) Vagina Opening to the urethra (where urine comes out) Labia (lips) surround the opening to the vagina Pubic hair Anus 11

12 Keeping Clean During puberty whether you are a boy or a girl you will find you sweat more and your skin and hair becomes oily. It is important therefore that you start to wash more than when you were a young child or you will become smelly. For boys it is especially important that they make sure they wash under their foreskin on the penis to avoid feeling itchy or sore. The foreskin is a fold of skin over the head of the penis that you gently pull back so you can wash the skin underneath. Some boys may be circumcised (which is removal of the foreskin) which makes it easier to ensure the penis is clean. For girls it is very important to keep clean during a period to avoid becoming sore and developing an infection. This means washing your genitals everyday, wearing clean underwear everyday and changing your sanitary towel every 2 to 3 hours whilst having a period. 12

13 Masturbation Masturbation is when a person touches or strokes their own genitals because it feels nice. For boys they will stroke their penis, for a girl it will be the clitoris which is a small bump at the top of the vagina. Both the tip of the penis and the clitoris can feel nice when touched. Masturbation is private. Not all people want to masturbate. People of all ages may do it. Masturbation is not harmful and is a normal part of growing up to explore sexual feelings and learn about your body. 13

14 Why does puberty take place??? Puberty is a time when your body is preparing for when you may decide to have a baby when you are older. As you may have learnt it takes many years to become fully ready both physically and mentally. When you are an adult, it is important to make sure you are in a loving relationship before you decide to have a baby because they take a lot of looking after. During puberty our bodies are developing the cells needed to create babies. This is an egg in a woman and sperm in a man. For a baby to grow inside the uterus an egg and sperm need to join together. This is called fertilisation. This can normally only be achieved by having sexual intercourse. This is where a man s penis enters a women s vagina during a process often called lovemaking. It is against the law to have sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of 16 years and it is important to make sure you are in a loving relationship with a partner before you decide to have a baby because they take a lot of looking after. 14

15 If the egg is fertilised it will embed into the uterus lining and start to develop into a baby. In the woman, after ovulation the egg travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus, if the egg does not meet a sperm it gets reabsorbed into the body and you will have a period. If a sperm is present following sexual intercourse with a man it may manage to fertilise the egg. This is called conception. The baby takes nine months to develop fully inside the woman s uterus (pregnancy) before it is ready to be born. Some adult couples who are in a loving relationship want to have sexual intercourse but do not feel ready to have a baby yet (it only takes one sperm to become pregnant). They may use contraception to stop the egg and sperm from meeting, which would prevent conception and pregnancy from happening. 15

16 Remember, you can get lots of information about growing up from the internet, but this is not always accurate. ALWAYS talk first to someone you trust like parents, carers, school nurse or your teacher. This leaflet has been designed in consultation with Year 7 students from Shirebrook Academy School in Shirebrook and The Pingle School in Swadlincote.