Growing Up
Boys
Boys have a penis and testicles (balls) that is between their legs. Below the penis are the two testicles or testes which may not be of equal size. One testicle may hang slightly lower than the other. The penis may be tilted towards either the left or the right side of the body. It is usually slightly curved at the tip. These are all normal. The tip of the penis has a small opening for the urine as well as the sexual fluid called semen to come out. The outer layer of skin covering the penis is the foreskin. This skin can be moved back a bit to show the tip (which is pinkish in color) more clearly. This skin also moves back a little on its own when a boy has an erection (his penis becomes hard). Pull back the foreskin gently while having a bath (when there is no erection) so that you clean off the whitish sticky substance that collects below it. If you do not do this you might feel itchy and uncomfortable. In some communities, people remove the foreskin during childhood. This is called circumcision. When a boy is sexually excited his penis becomes hard and ‘stands up’. This is known as an erection or a ‘hard-on’ and occurs because of increased blood flow to the penis. Erections sometimes occur on their own, without any sexual stimulus. Many boys have what are called Morning Erections and also erections during sleep. This is perfectly natural and normal. It does not mean that they are aroused or overly sexual boys.
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As boys grow up their bodies become more muscular. Their voice may ‘crack’, sometimes sounding deep and sometimes squeaky. Hair begins to appear on the face, especially above the lips. The body begins producing semen as the boy begins to mature. Semen or ‘cum’ is the whitish sticky substance that comes out of the penis. It is formed in the testes continuously and contains sperms (the ‘male egg’). The coming out of semen in spurts during a sexual act is called ejaculation. The amount of semen that comes out may be different at different times. It is normal for it to come out of the body from time to time. Sometimes semen comes out of the body at night, during sleep. This is called ‘nocturnal emissions’, ‘nightfall’ or ‘wet dreams’. Nocturnal emissions do not always happen because of sexual feelings or sexual dreams. They start happening around puberty (in the teens) and some boys get quite embarrassed or frightened by this. Nocturnal emissions are normal and do not lead to weakness. While urinating, you might find that a few drops of a whitish fluid come out just before the urine does. Both the semen and urine come out from the same tube and opening and so if semen is present in the tube, it naturally comes out before the urine does. Erections may also begin to occur more frequently, especially when you are excited. If you find that you have an erection at an embarrassing time (e.g. in class or while on the games field), try distracting yourself and it will subside on its own.
