Talking with Kids about Sex and AIDS
Jeannette Gaffney and Mickey Kavanagh
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After viewing our curriculum units, please take a few minutes to help us understand how the units, which were created by public school teachers, may be useful to others.
Give FeedbackActivity The Body Clock
To help pre and early adolescents realize that body changes happen in a predictable sequence, have each one fill a number in the circle next to the change described, according to the order in which they think the changes will take place.
Discussion follows and includes:
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(1) Everybody’s body clock is on an individual timer. There is a lot of variation in when people start and how fast their bodies change. This is not an exact schedule of events.
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(2) There is usually the following sequence but for some individuals, it may be slightly different. Emphasize that lots of things are normal.
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(a)
Girls
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1. Breast growth
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2. Straight pubic hair
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3. Growth of pelvis—hips get rounder
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4. Growth spurt
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5. Curly pubic hair
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6. Menarche—first period
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7. Underarm and coarser body hair
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8. Oil & sweat glands activated
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9. Growth of uterus and vagina completed
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10. Mood swings accompany the whole time period—put here to foster discussion about how normal they are.
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(b)
Boys
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1. Growth of testes/scrotum
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2. Straight pubic hair
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3. First ejaculation
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4. Growth spurt
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5. Growth of penis
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6. Curly pubic hair
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7. Voice change
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8. Underarm and coarser body hair
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9. Oil & sweat glands activated
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10. Facial hair
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11. Mood swings accompany the whole time period.
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3) Discussion Points
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a. Help identify what signs to look for first.
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b. Reassure them that all the changes don’t happen at once.
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c. Help girls see what happens before first period and boys see what happens before first ejaculation.
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d. Reassure them that they are or will be reaching physical maturity on schedule for their own bodies.
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e. Stages of development maY not be as easily recognized in real life as on the diagram. They are gradual and subtle.
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)