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  • Experience an erection or vaginal lubrication
  • Touch their genitals for self-soothing and may feel pleasure
  • Talk openly about their bodies, including genitals
  • Be able to say and understand, when taught, the appropriate names of body parts
  • Feel comfortable about everything – their bodies, other bodies, bodily functions, etc.
  • Feel sure of their own gender and have the ability to recognize gender presentation
  • Begin to recognize traditional gender roles
  • Ask questions about gender, gender expression, pregnancy and childbirth, and genitals
  • Recognize the social stigmas and taboos surrounding sexuality
            • Especially if parents are nervous about the subject, will be less open about asking questions
  • Understand more complex ideas with regard to sexuality and begin to understand intercourse apart from procreation
  • Look to peer, media, and other sources for info about sex
  • Understand gender role stereotypes, if presented as such
  • May engage in same sex sexual exploration and role playing
  • Have a stronger self-conception terms of gender, sexuality, and body image
  • Ask questions about puberty, development, relationships
  • Have an emerging sense of self as a young adult
  • Feel conscious of their sexuality and how they choose to express it
  • Understand jokes with sexual content
  • Feel concerns about being “normal” such as whether it is normal to masturbate, have wet dreams, etc.
  • Feel anxious about puberty; when it will happen, how it will occur, how to be prepared, etc.
  • Feel shy about asking questions of caregivers, especially regarding sexuality, and may act like they already know all the answers
  • Masturbates, and values privacy
  • Curiosity in sexual content
  • Asks questions about sexual health, sexual development, values
  • Understand that they are sexual and understand the options and consequences of sexual expression
  • Choose to express their sexuality in ways that may or may not include sexual intercourse
  • Recognize the components of healthy and unhealthy relationships
  • Have clear understanding of pregnancy and STIs
  • Have the ability to make reasoned choices about sex based knowledge
  • Have the capacity to learn about intimate, loving, long-term relationships
  • Have an understanding of their own sexual orientation
  • May have first sexual experience
  • Curiosity in nudity and sexual content
  • Asks questions about consequences of risky behavior

Maintain your curiosity & continue learning forever!