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GIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ADOLESCENT STAGE
During adolescence, children develop the ability to:
    Understand abstract ideas, such as higher math concepts, and develop moral philosophies, including rights and privileges.
    Establish and maintain satisfying relationships by learning to share intimacy without feeling worried or inhibited.
    Move toward a more mature sense of themselves and their purpose.
    Question old values without losing their identity.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

During adolescence, young people go through many changes as they move from childhood into physical maturity. Early, prepubescent changes occur when the secondary sexual characteristics appear.

Girls:

    Girls may begin to develop breast buds as early as 8 years old. Breasts develop fully between ages 12 and 18.
    Pubic hair, armpit and leg hair usually begin to grow at about age 9 or 10, and reach adult patterns at about 13 to 14 years.
    Menarche (the beginning of menstrual periods) typically occurs about 2 years after early breast and pubic hair appear. It may occur as early as age 10, or as late as age 15. The average age of menstruation in the United States is about 12.5 years.
    Girls have a rapid growth in height between ages 9.5 and 14.5, peaking at around age 12.

Boys:

    Boys may begin to notice that their testicles and scrotum grow as early as age 9. Soon, the penis begins to lengthen. By age 16 or 17, their genitals are usually at their adult size and shape.
    Pubic hair growth -- as well as armpit, leg, chest, and facial hair -- begins in boys at about age 12, and reaches adult patterns at about 15 to 16 years.
     Having regular nocturnal emissions (wet dreams) marks the beginning of puberty in boys. Wet dreams typically start between ages 13 and 17, with the average at about 14.5 years.
    Boys' voices change at the same time as the penis grows. Nocturnal emissions occur with the peak of the height spurt.


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