Puberty: Sexual Education For Boys And Girls ##HOT##
Adolescents undergo significant physical and cognitive changes during their pubertal development. These changes contribute to and impact their future development. Educating adolescents at an early age about their expected development decreases the possible anxiety associated with this period of life and also helps adolescents make better choices in regards to their sexuality. In order to assess the degree of education regarding pubertal development and sexuality, we conducted a survey of late adolescents (Median age 19 years) and parents of adolescents. A total of 409 adolescents (237 females, 172 males) and 124 parents completed the survey. 14.4% of teens (36.6% of males and 2% of females) reported that no one spoke to them prior or during puberty about pubertal development or sexuality issues. Teens receiving some form of puberty/sexuality education did so at a median age of 13 for girls and 15 for boys. More than one source of information was the most common (49%) followed by mother only (20%). 85% of parents reported talking to their teens about pubertal development and sexuality. There were several differences between areas reported covered by parents but not by teens, for example 72% of parents reported talking to their teens about gender differences in growth but only 31% of teens reported being spoken to about that. Areas that are very poorly covered are breast development in boys and sexual assault/date rape in girls at 5% and 26% respectively. In summary, it appears that we continue to do a relatively poor job in educating our kids about their development and sexuality and we do it late. Boys are even less likely than girls to be talked to about many areas of pubertal development and sexuality and when that is done, it is done at a later age.
Puberty: Sexual Education For Boys And Girls
Only one abstinence-only program has ever been proven effective at helping young people delay sex; yet in withholding information about contraception, it leaves those who do have sex completely at risk. Studies show that 99 percent of people will use contraception in their lifetimes,[20] and that the provision of information about contraception does not hasten the onset of sexual debut or increase sexual activity.[10] Meanwhile, thirty years of public health research clearly demonstrate that comprehensive sex education can help young people delay sexual initiation while also assisting them to use protection when they do become sexually active. We want young people to behave responsibly when it comes to decisions about sexual health, and that means society has the responsibility to provide them with honest, age-appropriate comprehensive sexual health education; access to services to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; and the resources to help them lead healthy lives.
All young people need comprehensive sexual health education, while others also need sexual health services. Youth at disproportionate risk for sexual health disparities may also need targeted interventions designed specifically to build self efficacy and agency. Further, administrators and other policy makers must recognize that structural determinants, socio-cultural factors and cultural norms have been shown to have a strong impact on youth sexual health and must be tackled to truly redress sexual health disparity fueled by social inequity.
The U.S. Department of Education currently has no authority over sexual health education. However, there have been federal funds allocated, primarily through the Department of Health and Human Services that school systems and community-based agencies have used throughout the last three decades to provide various forms of sex education.[21]
In addition, in 2013, CDC/Division of School Health issued a request for proposals to fund State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Large Municipal Education Agencies (LEAs) to implement Exemplary Sexual Health Education (ESHE). ESHE is defined as a systematic, evidence-informed approach to sexual health education that includes the use of grade-specific, evidence-based interventions, but also emphasizes sequential learning across elementary, middle, and high school grade levels.[23]
The Born This Way episode on June 20, 2017 highlighted the importance of sexual education as it relates to dating and marriage. The cast spokewith Terri Couwenhoven MS, CSE, a well known sex educator and author. Couwenhoven specializes in the design and implementation of sexuality programs and resources for people with cognitive disabilities, their parents and the professionals who support them.
In coordination with Couwenhoven, RespectAbility released a lengthy guide featuring resources for sexual education for children, teenagers and adults with disabilities, with a focus on those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Early puberty is much more common in girls than in boys. Girls who mature early can have a lower self-image and higher rates of depression, anxiety and disordered eating. Boys who mature early can have a higher self-image and be more popular with their peers.
De Leonibus, C., Marcovecchio, M.L., Chiavaroli, V., de Giorgis, T., Chiarelli, F., & Mohn, A. (2014). Timing of puberty and physical growth in obese children: A longitudinal study in boys and girls. Pediatric Obesity, 9(4), 292-299. doi: 10.1111/j.2047-6310.2013.00176.x.
A quality sexual health education curriculum includes medically accurate, developmentally appropriate, and culturally relevant content and skills that target key behavioral outcomes and promote healthy sexual development.1
A school health education program that includes a quality sexual health education curriculum targets the development of functional knowledge and skills needed to promote healthy behaviors and avoid risks. It is important that sexual health education explicitly incorporate and reinforce skill development.
Include enough time during professional development and training for teachers to practice and reflect on what they learned (essential knowledge and skills) to support their sexual health education instruction.
This page contains information about physical changes in girls during puberty. Go here if you are looking for information about physical changes in boys or emotional changes that teenagers often experience.
The California Healthy Youth Act, which took effect in January 2016, requires school districts throughout the state to provide students with comprehensive sexual health education, along with information about HIV prevention, at least once in high school and once in middle school.
The state legislation also allows districts to offer age-appropriate sexual health education in earlier grades if they choose to do so. But parents can opt out of comprehensive sexual health education, and local districts choose which curriculum and instructional resources (including textbooks and worksheets) they will use to teach comprehensive sexual health education to their students.
Yes. The state legislation, originally known as AB 329, requires that students in grades seven through twelve receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education at least once in middle school and once in high school. However, school districts under the leadership of their locally elected boards and superintendents are tasked with selecting which curriculum and instructional resources (including textbooks and worksheets) they will use to teach this material to students.
As mentioned above, parents or guardians can excuse their children from lessons about comprehensive sexual health and HIV prevention education, as well as research on student health behaviors and risks. Read more about the LGBTQ-inclusivity requirements (PDF) and how they interact with parental opt-out.
The framework covers six content areas of health education: Nutrition and physical activity; growth, development, and sexual health; injury prevention and safety; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; mental, emotional, and social health; and personal and community health.
Precocious puberty is when a child's body begins changing into that of an adult (puberty) too soon. When puberty begins before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys, it is considered precocious puberty.
For boys, the androgen testosterone is the principal sex hormone; while testosterone is produced, all boys' changes are characterized as virilization. A substantial product of testosterone metabolism in males is the estrogen estradiol. The conversion of testosterone to estradiol depends on the amount of body fat and estradiol levels in boys are typically much lower than in girls. The male "growth spurt" also begins later, accelerates more slowly, and lasts longer before the epiphyses fuse. Although boys are on average 2 centimetres (0.8 in) shorter than girls before puberty begins, adult men are on average about 13 centimetres (5.1 in) taller than women. Most of this sex difference in adult heights is attributable to a later onset of the growth spurt and a slower progression to completion, a direct result of the later rise and lower adult male levels of estradiol.[15]
The hormonal maturation of females is considerably more complicated than in males. The main steroid hormones, testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone as well as prolactin play important physiological functions in puberty. The production of gonadal steroids in girls starts with production of testosterone, which is typically quickly converted to estradiol inside the ovaries. However the rate of conversion from testosterone to estradiol (driven by FSH/LH balance) during early puberty is highly individual, resulting in very diverse development patterns of secondary sexual characteristics. Production of progesterone in the ovaries begins with the development of ovulatory cycles in girls (during the lutheal phase of the cycle), before puberty low levels of progesterone are produced in the adrenal glands of both boys and girls. Estradiol levels rise earlier and reach higher levels in women than in men. While estradiol promotes growth of the breasts and uterus, it is also the principal hormone driving the pubertal growth spurt and epiphyseal maturation and closure.[16] 041b061a72