Puberty
Puberty is when your body begins to change from a child?'s body to an adult?'s body. Boys grow into men and girls grow into women. The whole thing is triggered from hormones sent from glands in your body, such as the pituitary gland, the testes and the ovaries. Hormones are chemicals that your body parts use to get each other to do things.
Puberty happens to both boys and girls, although it has different effects on each sex. The age of puberty is usually slightly earlier for girls. Puberty is named after the Latin word puberatum, which means "the age of maturity".
Age of puberty
Puberty happens around 10-11 years old and lasts to about 15-17 years old in girls. It happens around 11-12 years old and lasts to 16-17 years old in boys. But the years in which you hit puberty differ a lot, both for boys and girls. There is no wrong age to hit puberty or to come out of it. You may feel self-conscious about hitting puberty late, but it really does you no harm. By contrast hitting puberty extremely early can be hard on you and it might be okay to try to get support if it happens for you.
(Actually grown-ups know to have a support team for their life at all times if possible, even if nothing stressful and major like puberty is happening for them. Children and adolescents should have support teams, too, which they can go to about anything.)
Getting bigger
This is something that will happen to both boys and girls. You will enter a growth spurt, and you will get bigger and taller. Boys usually grow bigger and taller than girls.
Growth of body hair
Growing more and new hair happens to both boys and girls. It is one of the first signs of puberty. Thick, curly hair will begin to grow on and around the genitals of both boys and girls. Thick hair will grow in your underarms, also called armpits, of both boys and girls. Both boys and girls will get thicker, longer leg and arm hair.
Boys will start to grow facial hair?, which is beards and moustaches. You can shave this if you like. (Look up instructions on the WWW on how to shave if your parents aren't offering and you can't ask them. The main part is to get your skin soaked and absorbing water. This makes shaving 5-10 times easier.)
Girls will get a slight amount of hair on the upper lip. (Sorry, girls.) I guess you can wax or shave that too, but it probably doesn't matter that much.
Sweat and oily skin
When you were a child you hardly sweat that much, and when you did, it didn't smell. Both boys and girls will sweat a lot more once you have hit puberty. Also your skin will be more oily, requiring you to bathe to stay clean. So once you have hit puberty you will have to bathe or shower usually every 1-2 days.
Changes in body
For boys
Although both boys and girls grow larger in puberty, boys get larger still than girls. Boys also get a larger frame, broader shoulders, stronger muscles, and a more apple- or V-shaped body.
For girls
Instead of getting a large upper body, girls will get a more curvy, womanly figure with larger hips and smaller waist, and more curves. This will give you a pear- or figure eight-shaped body.
Development of breasts
At some point in puberty, both boys' and girls' breasts will grow bigger. Boys, this does not mean you are turning into a girl! Girls' breasts will normally develop a lot more than boys. That means girls' breasts are usually a lot bigger in proportion to their bodies than boys'.
Development of genitals
For boys
For boys, your genitals are your penis and testes (testicles). If you are a boy your penis and testicles will both get a lot larger over the length of puberty. Your penis will become capable of erections? and the testicles will produce sperm. This means if you have sex you can possibly impregnate a girl. This is a really bad idea unless you are capable of taking care of yourself, a woman, and a child.
For girls
If you are a girl, your genitals are your vulva and vagina. They will grow in puberty along with the rest of your body, and your labia may grow and stick out more and get larger. You will eventually start having your period, called also menstruation. The start of menstruation is called menarche. You can get pregnant two weeks before your first period. Pregnancy is a really bad idea until you can take care of yourself and a child?.
Sexual attraction and sex drive
Both boys and girls will become attracted to other people sexually, usually people of the opposite sex close to their own age. You will notice them more, find them more interesting, and want to talk to and be around them more.
You will get a sex drive, which is a strong urge you get to make you want to have sex partners, sex, and children?. You are descended from creatures where each one have reproduced over billions of years, and you have that inside you. It is a powerful drive and it will be with you for the rest of your life, unless you are in a lot of pain, very sick, or have just had a lot of sex.
You will get a lot of curiosity about what the opposite sex's bodies and private parts look like, and what sexual activity with another person feels like. (It feels really good.) Probably it would be okay to find out what other people's bodies look like, with informed permission and consent. It is probably also okay to find out what sexual activity feels like, through practicing on yourself, which is called masturbation, even if there is another person there with you. I do not think you should look at pornography, and I don't think you should touch the other person's sexual parts. Don't touch anything you don't have yourself.