t - New York Civil Liberties Union

278
Union-Endicott
ID
~Il:
.~
~
.E
.S
~
arms and elsewhere, and all
.. experience the effects of hormones
·'1$1
Ii,. on feelings. What are hormones?
)/ They are substances produced by
/ ,"I' your organs that create special effects
elsewhere in the body.
About 9 out of 10 teenagers put up
with acne. Look around you and see if this
isn't true. If your mom or dad had acne,
then guess what? Hello, pimples! Of course,
pimples might not be the only thing worrying
you as you are going through the big P.
You may have noticed that you are
.......
growing taller a lot faster, and your feet and
hands are starting to look really big compared
to the rest of you. That's because they
are really big compared to the rest of you.
You're in a growth spurt, and different
parts of your body are growing while your
spine is trying to catch up. (Girls actually
stop growing in the spine for a while during
puberty and grow the last few centimeters
when puberty ends.) And then the growing
and much of the changing stops. Each
of you will get to the other side-I hope,
feeling good and fully appreciating your
irresistible, blossoming, and unique self!
Put it this way: What would it be like if
all your friends grew up, shared
~'--~ .
•
Foamy,
Regular
••
• ('À
puberty, and moved on to being
healthy, creative adults, and you
never changed in body or mind?
You and your classmates have
all this in common.
Girls' StuffIBoys' Stuff
Let's, as they say, get to it, with a
word to the ladies first: Apart
from growing taller and getting
pimples and so 'on, one of the first
signs of puberty is getting hair
under the arms and thicker hair
c
s:
on the legs. You might choose to
'l
shave this hair. That's up to
~ "
£ ". . :'l{-...... you. You will
..
also
~"" '-;'-
. Løj'
10 January 2006 Current Health 1
grow hair in the pubic area (between the
legs). You'll gain some weight in areas of
the body that respond to hormones. The
female hormones estrogen and progesterone
build fat levels as breasts and hips grow. It's
part of nature's way of preparing girls for
adulthood. Besides, curves look good!
Girls' bodies prepare for the process of
having babies-sometime later in life, when
you're prepared and if you decide to be a
mom. Two- to seven-day periods of menstrual
bleeding start happening about once
a month. All that can sound weird at first,
but anyone older can tell you this: Been
there, done that. Not a big deal. In the end
you realize everyone else has gone through
the same changes, and it's healthy.
Puberty is about
growth, change
and preparation
for adulthood.
Guys, no need to feel left out, because
you aren't. You just start changing a little
later. The hormone for guys is testosterone.
This encourages fat loss and muscle building.
Your first sign of puberty is an increase in
the size of your body parts. Your shoulders
start to get broader, and your voice begins
to deepen.
Lift those arms, and there's hair budding
there. Hair appears on the lower body.
Sometimes hair starts to grow up toward
your belly button. Some hair might sprout
over your chest. What's normal? Well,
there's lots of normal. Some guys are hairier
than others, that's all. (You might want to
check out whether your dad or uncles have
chest hair. Not all guys do.) Shaving the
newly sprouted hair on your face becomes a
part of grooming. You get used to it.
Boys go through their peak growth spurt
•
Ị,