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The Change Remember the last day of elementary school? Everyone in your classroom looked like kids; same short height, high pitched voice, skinny bodies, and backpacks full of stickers. Summer passed by, and next thing you know youre in middle school, but something clearly happened during the summer. The girl that sat across from you in math is now wearing a bra, the guy who had all the girls falling for him has a weird voice and is covered in zits, your science partner has a stash of tampons in her backpack, and the short nerd everyone picked on is the tallest in the class. No, an alien invasion did not take place, instead all of these changed class mates went through puberty. Puberty is the period in which adolescents reach sexual maturity and are capable of reproduction. Puberty is made up of 3 main stages: hormone secretion, body development, advancement in sexual reproduction organs, and emotional/social changes. Both male and females have various organs that secrete chemical substances for use in the body; this is otherwise known as a gland. The endocrine glands are in charge of growth and other changes to the human body. The endocrine glands are made up of the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, pancreas and sex glands. These glands secrete hormones which are the cause of body changes (Geoff, Malta). The pituitary gland starts off the process of puberty by increasing the secretion of the hormone that is in charge of body growth in between the ages of 11 and 13 for females and 14-15 for males. The first physical change a male or female can see at the start of puberty is growth. Now, how the body grows varies between individuals; some can shoot up a few inches in a matter of months meanwhile others grow by width instead. After the growth spurt, the pituitary gland releases a new kind of hormone that influences the sex glands in both sexes. In result, the sex

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glands secrete their own kind of hormone throughout the body which then allows the difference between a male and a female to be more obvious (Geoff, Malta). In a male: vocal chords change causing for a deeper voice to come out, shoulders become broader muscles become stronger, penis and testicles enlarge, wet dreams occur, involuntary erections and zits appear. Hair begins to grow on the face, under the arms, and in the pubic area (What). On the other hand females: hips widen, thighs become rounder, under arm and pubic hair grows, the clitoris grows, increases in perspiration, emotions change, zits appear, and breasts begin to develop (Scheve, Steve). But not all these changes happen at the same age or in order, sometimes a girl can get her growth spurt but not breasts meanwhile another can get breast but still continue with her tiny figure. Furthermore, there are other developments during puberty that may not be seen; sexual reproduction organs begin its full development. In males the external sexual reproduction organs consist of the penis and the scrotum which contain the testes which are the sex glands. At the starting point of puberty, the testes begin to produce the male sex cells which are also known as sperm and with this males are given the ability to ejaculate. For the next 30 to 40 years the testes will continue to produce millions of sperm cells each day and may discharge from time to time during sleep (Geoff, Malta). Unlike the males, the females sex glands, the ovaries, are located within the body rather than out. The ovaries contain thousands of eggs and as puberty progresses the ovaries discharge an egg known as ova. Every 28 days, one egg out of the thousands matures and breaks through the walls of the ovaries and enters the fallopian tube, the process of breaking through the wall is known as ovulation. The egg slowly makes its way through the fallopian tube and as this happens the walls of the uterus are enriched with blood (Scheve, Steve). Eventually the egg dissolves if it is not fertilized and the blood lining of the uterus wall is not needed and is discharged, this is the cause of a womans period.

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Now with all the changes going on within an adolescents body, there are also some social/emotional changes. The most obvious emotional change faced throughout puberty is becoming more self-conscious. The rate in which one goes through puberty varies; at times a girl will grow breasts at the age of 10 while another girl grows them at age 15. Because their bodies begin to differentiate, they cant help but to compare themselves with one another. For example, a girl that is the last in her class to develop may feel very self-conscious for being different causing her to compare herself to others. With this self-consciousness they will do anything in order to fit in which eventually leads to peer pressure (Social). Peer pressure is more of a social change rather than an emotion, because of all the changes in the body everyone during puberty feels awkward and the need to fit in and will do anything to fit in (Social). So if everyone in school is wearing makeup, shell wear makeup; if everyone in school has muscles, hell start working out; if everyone is shaving, then he/she will shave. Most of the time peer pressure is bad because it usually ends up with getting pressured into doing drugs. During puberty both females and males undergo many changes that are seen and others that are not. These changes take place to get the body ready to be capable of having children. As a result of these changes both boys and girls become men and women by the secretion of new hormones, body developments, and advancement in sexual reproduction organs.

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Works Cited Geoff, Malta, J. "Stages of Puberty | Puberty101.com Boys Puberty, Girls Puberty, Teenage Development, Mental Health, STDs, Drug Abuse." Puberty 101. N.p., 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Scheve, Steve. "How Female Puberty Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 "Social and Emotional Changes in Adolescence." Social and Emotional Changes in Teenagers. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. "What Is Puberty?" Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 6 July 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.