Week 32: Puberty and Reproduction Reading
- Due No due date
- Points 2
- Questions 2
- Time Limit None
- Allowed Attempts 3
Instructions
Throughout our lives our bodies go through changes. Some changes are easy to see. Some happen on the inside and are not as noticeable.
Some changes that occur in young people about your age have to do with puberty.
Puberty is when your body physically begins to change. It changes from being a child to becoming an adult.
It’s important to know how some of those changes you are experiencing can affect the way you feel and think about yourself. It can also affect the way you feel and think about others and the choices you make.
Puberty causes a change in the body so that a person may be able to become pregnant or cause a pregnancy. So, we are going to discuss the sexual and reproductive system, the parts that make babies.
Most people have reproductive parts known as male or female. Most people who have male reproductive parts are boys. Most people who have female reproductive parts are girls.
We are going to be talking about male bodies and female bodies. However, some people’s bodies are not clearly one sex or the other. They are intersex. Everyone, no matter what body parts they have, goes through puberty.
Puberty can begin anywhere from around age 8 to around age 16. It continues until a person is fully grown. Whatever age your body goes through puberty is the right age for you.
Puberty starts because a person’s body begins to produce a large amount of hormones. The body was only producing small amounts of hormones before. All changes of puberty, including the physical, social and emotional changes, happen because of this increase in hormone production. Social changes mean changes in your relationships with other people. Emotional changes mean changes in how you feel.
Sometimes when young people start going through changes in puberty, they wonder if they are normal. They question whether their peers are also experiencing the same things. They are curious if they are ahead or behind others in going through these changes.
I want to assure you that whenever you experience the changes of puberty, it is the right time. There is nothing you can do to yourself to change when you go through puberty. It is already programmed in your DNA. Just like you can’t control your eye color or your height, you can’t control when you go through puberty. (There are, however, times when some people need to visit a doctor for medicine to help them start puberty sooner. There are also times when people may need to help from a doctor to put it off until a little later.)
The thing to remember is that everyone goes through it. Everyone ends up in the same place when puberty is finished, which is having an adult body. People can become very critical of their own bodies. They start noticing every single pimple or feel pressure to look a certain way. Likewise, they may think they are too tall or too short or not enough this or that. These are normal feelings to have, but try not to let other people or the media decide how you should look.
Keep in mind, teasing people about their bodies is a form of bullying. It is not OK.