Reproductive System

Day 2: Puberty and Other concerns

Puberty: What do you know about it?

• Girls develop breasts.• Boys look more like men.

Puberty

• 2nd fastest rate of growth (similar to when you were a baby)– Height can increase from 4 inches+ in a year.

• Ages 8 to 13 in females• Ages 10 to 15 in males

What happens in males?

• Pituitary gland signals your testes.• Signals to produce testosterone and sperm.

Body changes in males

• Hair develops in the pubic areas, armpits and face.

• Shoulders grow wider and body becomes more muscular.

• Voice cracks and deepens.• The penis grows longer and wider, and testes

become bigger.

What happens in females?

• Hormones signal the ovaries to produce estrogen.

• The hormones start the menstrual cycle.

Body changes in females

• Hair grows in the same regions but not too much.

• Grows curves, hips get wider and breasts develop

• Monthly menstrual cycle starts (they can get pregnant already)

Consequences that people don’t like generally

• weight gain• acne• oily skin• body odor• temper and anxiety• confused about sex

Why do adolescents behave the way they do?

• angst • idiocy• haste• impulsiveness• selfishness• reckless bumbling

The traits do not define adolescence.

• We notice this because it annoys us the most.• We also find the previous traits to be

dangerous.

Adolescence

• “highly functional, unique period for adaptation”

“Love of the thrill”

• Sensation seeking– Unusual, unexpected

Risk-taking

• risky adventures, ugly outcomes• age 15-25, usually dies

“They’re not thinking. Puny brains fail them.”

Teens and adults reason the same way.

• Teens overestimate risk.• Risk vs. reward, teens value the reward more

than adults.• Teens are more affected when someone is

watching them perform.

Hormones!

• dopamine– “fire up” reward circuits– learning patterns and making decisions

• oxytocin– make social interactions rewarding

“Teens prefer the company of people their own age.”

• Family is old news. New friends are better.• Our first world is created by our parents.• Our second world is what we create with our

peers.

*The more social you are, the better success you may have.

“Peer relations take top priority.”

• If you are excluded, you feel as if your health is in danger.

• Threat to existence! • “I do not want to live.”

“Excitement, novelty, risk and the company of peers”

• Foolish but adaptive• Over the world, the culture is prevalent.• If they’re not necessary, natural selection will

be against it.• Goal: To get you out of the safety of your

home to the unfamiliar. (wherever that may be)

“For parents, the adolescence years are the most trying, contrary and scary moments of being parents.”

• They “do not want” you to grow up yet.• Are they helping or hindering?

In the US, billions are spent!

• Counseling programs for– violence– gangs– suicide– sex– drugs– etc. (other problems that Americans can think of)

What can parents do?

• Helping hand that encourages independence.• Teens want to learn from their peers, but

sometimes “older” people (your parents) know more.