Growing up – Boys
Most boys start puberty between the ages of 13 or 14 years, but some start earlier or later than this.
Changes for Boys:
Hair – You will start to grow hair on your face, your pubic area, your legs and on your arms. As you get older the hair will become thicker and you may want to shave the hair on your neck and face. Some men don’t and choose to grow a beard and a moustache.
Voice – Your voice will become deeper. Some young men sound croaky for a while, whilst their voice is breaking. Other young men will notice that their voice becomes deeper very quickly.
Getting Taller – You will grow taller and beome heavier. You will notice that you start to put on weight and develop muscles.
Penis - Your penis will get longer and thicker. Your testicles (or balls) will also get bigger. You will have more erections. An erection is when the penis becomes stiff and hard.
Wet Dreams - happen when you are asleep and dreaming. You will get an erection and ejaculate (when semen shoots out through the erect penis). You won’t be aware that this is happening, but you will notice a damp patch in your bed when you wake up. All young men have wet dreams, it is normal and nothing to worry about.
Spots and Sweat – hormones can make you sweat more and become spotty. Make sure that you have a bath, shower or wash more regularly to keep your face and body clean.
Mood Swings -frequent changes in hormone levels can change the way you feel, and you can change from feeling really happy one minute, to feeling angry or sad the next. This is called mood swings.
Puberty in males starts with the testicles producing the sex hormone ‘testosterone’. Testosterone instructs the testicles to make sperm - the male sex cells. The scrotum protects the testicles by keeping them at exactly the right temperature to make sperm. About one hundred million to three million sperm per day are produced when a boy reaches puberty.
Sperm leaves a boys body when they ejaculate semen. Semen is a mixture of sperm and fluid and is sticky, cloudy and whitish. Ejaculation is a sudden release of sperm through the urethra, leaving the males body at the tip of penis which causes a feeling of excitement known as an orgasm. During a male erection, the muscles that allow blood to flow in and out of his penis opens wide and allows more blood to be pumped in, whilst there are other muscles that tighten up and stops the extra blood from leaving the penis. This causes the penis to become stiff and erect. When the erection is over the muscles relax and allow the blood to flow back out of the penis and into the body and the penis becomes soft again.
Lots of things can cause you to have an erection; a sexy film, pleasurable thoughts or seeing someone who makes you feel nervous, excited, happy or sexy. Boys usually have erections before and during sex. An erection makes it possible for the penis to enter the womens vagina. However erections can occur for no apparent reason and do not always result in ejaculation. It is also possible for a man to ejaculate without an erection although this does not happen very often.
Once a male begins to produce sperm, it is possible for him to make a baby. If just one egg unites with a female egg during sex, a female can become pregnant and the united cell grow and develop into a baby.
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