Puberty
1. What is puberty?
Puberty is an important stage in the life of every teenager.
You know, puberty is a time when your body, your thoughts and your needs change a lot. It happens gradually, often between the ages of 10 and 15, but for everyone it’s different; sometimes it starts earlier, sometimes later, and that’s normal! It’s a continuum (a timeline that moves forward), the moment when you move from childhood to adolescence, a stage when you slowly prepare to become a young adult.
To better understand puberty, you can watch this video in Luxembourgish 🇱🇺 which explains the physical and psychological changes in a simple and clear way.👇
2. What does puberty mean for your body?
This is the moment when your body becomes capable, little by little, of reproducing, i.e. of making babies – even if this is obviously not your immediate plan. This means that the genital organs begin to produce reproductive cells and become mature: eggs in people with ovaries/women*, and sperm in those with testicles/men*.
NB: Eggs are already forming in a girl’s ovaries when she’s still a fetus.
But don’t panic! 😎 All this doesn’t mean you have to have children. It’s just your body getting ready for the possibility. It’s your body, you’ll always have a choice.
* The asterisk (*) means that the word includes a person who identifies as a man/boy or woman/girl, even if their background or body does not always correspond to this.
3. A brochure made for you...
Which covers all these topics:
- Why does your body change so much?
- Biological and physical changes
- New relationships and emotions
- Life with screens
- Consent, sexuality, violence
- Where can I find help?
Download our complete puberty brochure below (in french). 👇
Express survival kit
- The hard days
Sometimes we have scary thoughts, we don’t like what we see in the mirror and we feel bad about ourselves, maybe even alone. These moments can seem very heavy, like they’re never going to end. Having sad or dark thoughts is not a sign of weakness. But it’s important not to be alone with these feelings for too long.
You can talk about it with someone you trust (a trusted adult, such as a parent, teacher or healthcare professional) or do something that makes you feel good.
♥︎ Know that you are not alone.
- Pain during menstruation
To evacuate periods, the uterus contracts: it tightens and becomes harder. You can sometimes feel these contractions and feel pain in your lower abdomen. This varies from person to person.
However :
- if painkillers don’t help,
- if the pain prevents you from functioning normally (sleep, activities),
- if the pain is very severe before, during or after menstruation,
🗯 Talk to a doctor.
- Online security
When you’re on the Internet, protect yourself as you would in real life:
- Never give your full name, age, address, passwords or photos to someone you don’t know, have never met in real life or outside the digital world and networks.
- Even a photo taken in your bedroom or in front of your house can give information about where you live.
- If you receive a strange message or one that makes you feel uncomfortable, talk to a trusted adult (parent, teacher, counsellor). If you feel more comfortable talking about it with a friend first, that’s totally OK. Then, together, you can ask an adult you trust for help.
- Consent
Consent means saying yes or no to something. It means you have the right to choose what you want to do, what you accept or reject.
In a relationship, no one should force you to do something you don’t want to do.
❌ And if we don’t know, that’s a no, too! The absence of a yes is always a no!
If you feel uncomfortable or someone doesn’t respect you or your body: talk to a trusted adult. You’re not alone and you have the right to be listened to and helped.
Free number for children and young people in distress: