UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHANGING BODY BOYS

What is Puberty? The period in which boys and girls experience the physical and emotional changes of growing up. These changes may begin anytime between the ages of 8 & 17, but most boys begin between the ages of 10 & 14. Changes may occur over a few years or over a long period of time. Either way, it’s all NORMAL.

What Changes Occur? PHYSICAL EMOTIONAL Grow taller and heavier, more muscular Voice gets deeper Hair grows on the face, under the arms, in the genital area, and chest Skin becomes oily and pimply Penis and testicles grow May have mood swings May have sexual thoughts and feelings May feel confused about where you belong. For example, you may want freedom from your parents 1 minute and then be taken care of them another. May be self-conscience about how you look and how you should behave

What causes these changes? Hormones: chemical messengers that travel in the bloodstream from the place they’re made to the place they’re needed. Pituitary Gland: located deep inside your brain, this gland sends hormones, to the reproductive organs to get puberty started. Testosterone and Estrogen: Both boys and girls produce both of these hormones that are responsible for the changes during puberty. Boys make more testosterone, girls make more estrogen.

Where do babies come from? A baby develops inside the womb when an egg cell from the female unites with a sperm cell from the male. This usually takes place during sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse is when the penis enters the vagina and semen is released. This may/ may not lead to a pregnancy.

What organs are involved in reproduction?

The role of each organ… Scrotum: The sac of loose skin that hangs under the penis and holds the testicles. Testicles: Two oval shaped glands housed in the scrotum that make sperm and testosterone. Urethra: Tube-like passageway that goes from the bladder to the outside of the penis. It has 2 jobs in males. One is to allow urine to the leave the body via the penis, the other is allow semen to ejaculated from the penis. This does not occur at the same time. Interestingly enough, females have a urethra also. However, it’s only used for urine to be excreted. Penis: The external male organ that can experience an erection and ejaculate semen.

So, we learned the organs & their roles, but how does it all work? 200, ,000 of sperm are produced everyday once puberty begins. These build up in the testicles and eventually need to be released. Sperm are released when semen is ejaculated from an erect penis. That’s a lot of words, what do they all mean?

Hang in there, we’re almost done! Erection: The enlarging and hardening of the penis. Ejaculation: The spurting out of semen from the penis. Semen: The milky-white fluid that helps transports sperm through the urethra and out the penis. This process may happen when a boy is sleeping. It is referred to as a nocturnal emission or wet dream. This may also occur if a boy stimulates his genitals (penis/scrotum) for sexual pleasure. This is referred to as masturbation.

WE DID IT! Sometimes you may be scared or worried that you may be the only one having these sometimes strange things occurring during puberty. Just remember, everyone goes through puberty and experiences these emotional and physical changes. They are all “ perfectly normal”!