Merciful 1/Merciful - Disc 1.iso/software/b/birds_&_bees/bird&bee's.dms/bird&bee's.adf/develop1.all

Text File | 1986-06-21 | 5KB | 166 lines

    You and your friends are not all
the same height, nor are you all the
same weight. That is because 2we all
grow at different speeds, and will stop
growing at different times.] Girls usu-
ally grow, or mature, sooner and faster
than boys. Boys will catch up in the
later part of their teen-age years. At
your age, and 1for the next five or six
years, girls may look older than boys
of the same age.] You might feel funny
when kids your age start looking dif-
ferent than you. This is natural. In
fact, they probably feel funny too!
    We all have our own growth rates.
Some of us are "early bloomers" and
others "late bloomers." How fast you
grow depends on your own "set of plans"
which is in your genes. 3There is
nothing you can do to speed up or slow
down your growth], even though you may
sometimes want to.
    As you grow up to be an adult, you
will go through a time called puberty
(roughly your teen-age years). This is
when your body makes a lot of changes.
You will grow very rapidly, and your
body will take on a more adult shape.
Puberty lasts several years, and when
it is over your body will be fully
grown.
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2Are boys usually bigger than girls?
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2Will I grow up to be the same size as
my mother or father?
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2Is there any way to change the speed
at which I will grow (mature)?
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    Girls and boys are made differently
both inside and outside. On the out-
side, boys have a penis which they use
to urinate, or pee. Girls have an open-
ing for urination called the urethra.
Girls usually sit down to urinate,
while boys can sit or stand. 1Boys have
a special sack which hangs below the
penis. This scrotal sack (or scrotum)
contains two testicles] which look like
little balls (which is what you might
have heard them called). Someday the
testicles will make seeds which are
needed to help make a baby.
    On the inside, 2girls have a
special place to grow a baby. This is
called the uterus.] There is also a
special opening for the baby to get
out. It is called the vagina. Some peo-
ple think that girls urinate from their
vagina, but this is not true. Girls
have two openings, one for the urine to
get out (called the urethra) and the
vagina for the baby to get out. Boys
have some special inside places which
will help make seeds, but they do not
have anywhere for a baby to grow. This
is why only women can become mothers
and have babies.
    Sometimes children want to touch
and look at these special places on
their body. This is OK as long as you
are alone in a private place. You take
a bath in private and use the toilet in
private. So 3if you want to look at or
touch these parts of your body, it
should be in private.] This is why they
are sometimes called private parts.
Since these parts are private, nobody
else should touch them but you.

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2Do both boys and girls have testicles?
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1Is the uterus where the baby grows?
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1Is it OK to touch your private parts
(genitals)?
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    As you grow up you will go through
puberty. This lesson will talk about
some of the changes that happen in pu-
berty for boys and girls.
    1For girls there are two main
things that happen. First, they start
to grow breasts.] Every girl will grow
breasts, but at different times and at
different rates. Also, some girls will
grow bigger breasts than others. It is
up to the genes to decide when the
breasts start to grow and how much they
will grow. There is nothing a girl can
do to make her breasts grow or stop
growing, even though she may sometimes
want to.
    1The next major change that happens
to girls is they start to have peri-
ods.] This is called menstruation. As a
girl matures, her body begins prac-
ticing to have a baby. Every month the
uterus is prepared to make a soft place
for the baby to grow. But when a baby
does not get started, the soft lining
of the uterus is cleaned out. It comes
out the same opening babies come out,
which is called the vagina. Since this
is kind of messy, girls and women who
have their periods wear a pad to keep
their clothes from getting spotted.
Periods usually come once a month and
last for a few days.
    2Boys also notice changes during
puberty. They will see that their penis
grows bigger. The special sack under
the penis, called the scrotum, also
grows.] Inside this sack are special
places called testes, where seeds are
stored. These seeds can someday make a
baby. As the boy's body matures, it
practices making these seeds. This is
why the testes and scrotum get bigger.
All boys will notice these parts get-
ting bigger, but everyone grows at a
different time.
    2Boys will also notice their voice
changing.] For a while it will "crack"
a lot and sound funny. It is on its way
to becoming much deeper. 3Both boys and
girls will notice hair growing around
the genitals.] This is called pubic
hair. Remember, it is your genes that
are deciding when it is time for these
things to start happening. There is
nothing anyone can do to make your
development (maturity) start, stop, get
faster, or get slower.

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1Are the growing of breasts and the
beginning of their period the most ob-
vious changes that girls undergo?
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2Are the growing of breasts and the
beginning of their period the most ob-
vious changes that boys undergo?
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1Will both boys and girls notice chan-
ges in their pubic area?
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