SEX AND PUBERTY: PHYSICAL CHANGES
Puberty is a time of physical and emotional turmoil as both boys and girls face the dilemmas of their changing bodies, and a growing sexual awareness. It is a time of evolving a concept of ourselves in relation to others.
The time bomb of puberty is set to explode at a preordained age, releasing a surge of hormones that have effects on every part of our being: our thoughts, our appearance, our emotions. Although it can be frustrating for late bloomers, the timing of that change is different for each person and there is nothing that will speed it up.
While nature is working its wonders it is also playing some pretty mean practical jokes, things that make you suspect a Creator with a sense of humor. Why else would your nose and your feet grow first? Why else at the most self-conscious time in your life would you break out in pustular lumps all over your face? Why else would so many developing boys grow breasts which disappear just as mysteriously as they arrive? This is a phenomenon called ‘gynecomastia’. You can often pick the boys with gynecomastia … they’re the ones wearing big sloppy sweaters on the beach in the middle of summer. If only they knew they weren’t changing into girls and that the swelling would go away there wouldn’t need to be so much anguish.
Getting used to a changing body is part of the excitement of growing up … I can remember being really excited when I realized I had grown tall enough for my feet to touch the floor when I was sitting on the bus … but it is also a source of embarrassment, fear and confusion. The biggest question is, Am I normal?’ If an adolescent can be reassured that what they’re going through is normal, a large part of the battle will be won.
*17\17\9*
