To start: no, there are no “trusted male figures” in our lives. My brothers & father are all conservative, and I DO NOT trust them to properly explain things without shame and/or religious context.

My son knows the basics of reproduction, but I’ve never really explained what’s “normal” things for a teenage boy to go through… mainly because I don’t know!

I’ve definitely put it off, so he’s almost 14 and is much more physically mature than most of his peers (he’s got hair in places, shaves his face regularly, etc.)… but I’m embarrassed to admit that I know next to nothing about anything else…

Could y’all help me out? What did you go through that he should know about? What should I know about?

Many thanks to anyone who can help. Please don’t be unkind. Much appreciated.

EDIT: Thank you so much for all the advice so far!! Please keep it up!!

My son & I have very open communication & a very good relationship.

  • artificialfish@programming.dev
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    1 month ago

    This may be weird, but honestly I wish someone had just given me a copy of “she comes first” (a good book I still use today), and an Adam and Eve gift card. The last one I’ll give you one good reason: it’ll be a lot better if he’s fucking a toy than having sex as a teen. It’ll also make it a bit of a training experience, a lot of guys that age just want to know “what it’s like”.

  • psion1369@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    As a guy, best I can say is educate him on what women go through. Make sure he knew what is going on, so he doesn’t look like an idiot with a woman. And so he isn’t like me and learn about how periods actually work when he’s almost thirty because he doesn’t get a joke in a movie.

    What he needs to learn at this age isn’t what he will do through, school will do that for him. He needs to know what others will go through. Religious thinking kept most of female anatomy out of the public schools I went to.

  • BJHanssen@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I think one of the more important things you can get across to him is this:

    Porn is fine, but it’s fiction. It’s no more real or realistic than the latest superhero blockbuster, and should be thought of that way. It’s entertainment, not education.

    There are sex ed channels on Youtube. Good ones. Sexplanations is one, but there are also others. Seek those out.

    I know this is going to be a very awkward conversation, but you have to understand this: he will be finding and watching porn, and most likely already is at 14. Don’t shame him for that. In any way. Let him know that you know, and that it’s normal, but that it’s important to think of it like it’s just the movies. Cos that’s what it is.

    • hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 month ago

      Oh that’s great. Which ones? I doubt that Pride and Prejudice or The Very Hungry Caterpillar are very helpful here.

      If you can’t even recommend any book on this topic, then your comment really doesn’t help OP at all.