What Does Puberty Mean to Adolescents? Teaching and learning about bodily development

Puberty Education in a Global Context: Knowledge Gaps, Opportunities, and Implications for Policy

“…Placing too much emphasis on puberty as a biological process that results in reproductive capability curtails the opportunity to help students understand the nonreproductive aspects of their physical maturation and ignores the extent to which the meaning of puberty is culturally and socially defined. Furthermore, an emphasis on reproductive functions implies a heterosexual orientation, contrary to the experience of some youth (Diorio & Munro, ). LGBTQ youth may benefit from a more inclusive approach to puberty and sexuality education and from online resources tailored to their developmental needs (Gowen & Winges‐Yanez, ).…”

Young people's concerns about sex: unsolicited questions to a teenage radio talkback programme over three years

“…Similarly, Hirst (2004) stresses the importance of giving time and commitment to hearing young people's voices through systematic and nontokenistic participation at all levels of sex and relationship education. Diorio and Munro (2003) argue that educating adolescents about puberty as a reproductive maturation process often narrows this phenomenon down to a strictly biological event, ignoring both the socio-cultural context and the experiences and voices of young people themselves.…”

‘We didn't cover that at school’: educationagainstpleasure or educationforpleasure?

“…If young people are enabled to feel more relaxed about their own bodies, and about bodily pleasures, then they may be less affected by the pressures to engage in sexual activity against their wishes or in ways that they do not feel comfortable about (and this applies to men as well as women). Diorio and Munro (2003) have presented a thoughtful analysis of the way in which puberty is presented to school pupils and how this tends to perpetuate the centrality of reproductive maturation. Alternative meanings that may be experienced by young people are marginalised; although their analysis emphasises the impact this has on heterosexist assumptions, one could use the same argument to illustrate how new possibilities of bodily fulfilments tend to be minimalised or ignored.…”