12: All about puberty - Level One

Welcome to Six Minute Sex Ed, the podcast that helps families talk about sex and relationships. My name's Kim Cavill, I'm a sex education teacher, and you can learn more about me at //teaandintimacy.com/ This week's episode is Level One, perfect for listeners of any age, but especially great for families with younger listeners - and it's all about puberty. What is puberty? Puberty is the name for a series of changes bodies go through as they transform from children into adults and usually starts some time between the ages 7 - 16, though some people start earlier and some people start later. Puberty starts when when the brain releases a hormone called GnRH. GnRH causes the pituitary gland, which is a very small gland just under the brain, to make two more puberty hormones: LH and FSH. Everyone has these hormones in their bodies, but they can work on different bodies in different ways. LH and FSH both tell bodies to make four other hormones: testosterone, androgen, estrogen, and estradiol. Those four hormones cause all of the changes of puberty we’re going to talk about today. Check out the following webpages for great information about puberty: Amaze.org - //amaze.org/ KidsHealth.org - //kidshealth.org/en/kids/grow/?WT.ac=k-nav-grow GenderSpectrum.org - //www.genderspectrum.org/resources/parenting-and-family-2/ HRC resources for Transgender Children and Youth - //www.hrc.org/explore/topic/transgender-children-youth It's important to remember puberty looks and feels different for each person. It helps to know where to get good information and who to talk to when you need support. There’s no one right way to grow up and even though puberty can make people feel different from everyone around them, like they’ll never fit in, it’s important to remember there isn’t one right way to be a person. We’re all unique, on the outside AND the inside, and our value doesn't come from what we look like or how we grow up. We're all enough, just as we are. Conversation starters: 1. Now that you know some of the changes that happen to people during puberty, how do you think you may feel when they happen to you? 2. If you think you might experience negative emotions, how do you handle them? What makes you feel better when you have negative feelings? Thanks for listening today! See you next week.