Adolescence is the period when the boy is lost in the man. It is the
time of life embraced between the ages of fourteen or sixteen and the
age of twenty-five. Every boy, if properly trained, should reach this
period in a state of good general health and spirits. Hitherto he has
been led and guided. Now he must develop mental strength and will
power himself to choose the good and refuse the evil in the sexual
problems confronting him.
PUBERTY
According to climate puberty, the age when the human male becomes
sexually perfect, varies from ten to fifteen years. In the United
States puberty in the male usually occurs at the age of fourteen and a
half years. In tropical climates it occurs at nine or ten, and in cold
countries, such as Norway and Siberia, it may not take place until
eighteen or nineteen. Vigorous physical exercise tends to delay
puberty, anything exciting the emotions tends to hasten it.
Stimulating foods, pepper, vinegar, mustard, spices, tea and coffee,
excess meat nutriment hasten puberty. A cool, unstimulating vegetable
and farinaceous diet may delay the development of the sexual system
several months or a year.
THE SIGNS AND CHANGES OF PUBERTY
In the boy the signs of puberty are the growth of hair on the skin
covering the pubes and in the armpits. Chest and arms broaden, the
frame grows more angular, the masculine proportions more pronounced.
The vocal cords grow longer and lower the pitch of the voice. Hair
grows on chin, upper lip, cheeks, and often on the body surface.
THE SEXUAL MORAL LAW
The sexual moral law is the same for both sexes, and equally binding.
It may be summed up as follows: "Your sexual urges, instincts and
desires should never consciously injure an individual human being or
mankind in general. They should be exercised to further the value and
happiness of both."
THE MALE ADOLESCENT AND CONTINENCE
The perfect carrying out of this general moral law implies continence
on the part of the male adolescent until marriage. Continence is