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Sexual Health Information |
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Preadolescence 8 - 12
- Are developing and confirming their personal boundaries
- Are learning about their comfort zones and testing and changing their boundaries
- May be anxious about changes to their bodies
- Are very concrete thinkers - They want the facts!
Relationships with Family and Adults
- At this age, preadolescents may become less talkative with adults. Hence, conversations about intimacy can be a challenge.
- They need reliable information from adults because this will help them develop skills to make informed decisions.
- They need adults to be available and to keep the doors of communication open.
- At this age, they test and change their boundaries.
Relationships with Peer Group
- Preadolescents need help coping with the rate of their own maturation compared with that of their friends.
- Peers are very important to this age group. Preadolescents tend to hang around with groups of friends of the same sex.
Physical Development
- Weight gain is natural for this age group. A gain of 20 to 25 pounds between the ages 7 and 14 is not unusual or necessarily unhealthy.
- At this age, some may have started the changes of puberty; most have not.
Sexuality Issues
- Preadolescents are developing and confirming their personal boundaries
- They don't like to expose their bodies around anyone else.
- May masturbate more in private.
- Need help coping with different rates of sexual maturation in themselves and their friends.
- Aware of birth control but not sure what it is.
- Think you can only get pregnant if you want to.
- Are under great pressure to be sexual.
Preadolescence 12 - 14
- May be self-centered.
- May have difficulty with long range planning.
- May have difficulty understanding long-term consequence of their decisions and behaviour.
- May see things as right or wrong.
Relationships with Family and Adults
- At this age, teens are still closely tied to their parents, but feel the need to pull away.
- Adults are seen as all good or all bad.
- They feel that adults are always watching them and they are "on stage".
- They need love and acceptance for their feelings of self-worth.
Relationships with Peer Group
- At this age, teens tend to hang around in groups.
- There is a strong need to belong to these groups: acceptance is important and rejection is scary.
- Girls often form cliques - special groups of friends. These groups can sometimes be unwelcoming to the outsiders. Boys don't talk as much with their friends about relationships.
- Teens at this age turn to their friends for advice rather than their parents.
- Teens constantly compare themselves to other teens.
Physical Development
- At this age, most teens have started the changes of puberty; some have not.
Sexuality Issues
- They wonder if they are "normal" and their friends' bodies are changing in the same way as their own.
- They have mood swings. They daydream and may have romantic or sexual fantasies.
- Self-pleasuring (masturbation) is common for both males and females.
- They may wonder if they are gay or straight.
Web Links
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The information posted on this site, as well as linked sites, is not a substitute for a
professional medical opinion.
Oral Sex and Youth (Age 12 -14)
Oral Sex and Youth - what's going on?
From: Toronto Women's Health Network
Preadolescence 14 - 17
- Teens in this age group can see things more easily from other points of view.
- They may better understand the consequences for their actions.
- They live for the moment, and may be constantly changing their plans.
- They may engage in risk-taking. This is seen as part of separation from parents
Relationships with Family and Adults
- They continue to pull away from their parents.
- They may feel: "my parents don't understand me".
Relationships with Peer Group
- Peers are still very important in their social life.
- Mixed sex groups may be more common at this age group.
Physical Development
- For most teens in this age group, their bodies are still growing and changing.
- For some teens, at this stage, major changes may be complete.
Sexuality Issues
- They are starting to feel more comfortable in their new bodies. They are spending more time making themselves look good.
- Some are exploring their sexuality with others: kissing and touching is common; intercourse is less common.
- Some may feel they have "fallen in love".
- They may be better at expressing their feelings towards others.
Preadolescence 17 - 21
- People in this age group can learn from life experiences and understand them.
- They are better able to handle adult responsibilities.
- They see themselves as adults.
Relationships with Family and Adults
- Their relationships with their families are becoming more adult.
- They still need to feel loved in order to feel self-worth.
Relationships with Peer Group
- The influence of their friends become less important as they become more secure in their own values.
- Their relationships become less exploitative. Loving is deeper and focuses more on companionship.
Physical Development
- Physical development at this age is usually complete.
Sexuality Issues
- Adolescents at this age group may establish more permanent sexual relationships.
- They have a mature body and a clearer self image.
- Their roles as men and women are clearer
- They have a good idea if they are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.
- They still have a lot to learn about sex.
- They may be confused about what they want, and what others want from them
- They may still not practice safer sex consistently.
- Social pressures may cause confusion in their sexual behaviour.
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