Dear Simba

Don’t worry. It’s normal for boys to have strong sexual desires and frequent erections when they think about sex. Masturbation is an easy and safe solution to this but only do it in private.

Masturbation is rubbing your own sexual organs so you feel good, get sexually excited and often have an orgasm. (It’s also called ‘coming’, ‘climaxing’ or ‘release’.) This makes waves of contractions in your sexual organs and often over your body. When a boy has an orgasm, sperm is pushed out of his penis. When a girl has an orgasm, her vagina swells and gets moist.

Both boys and girls can enjoy touching themselves. Couples who want to have safer sex also masturbate (stroke and rub each other’s sexual parts) to give their partners pleasure. Masturbating has NO bad effects on your body or your mind. It helps to relieve sexual tension and is a healthy way of exploring your body. People of all ages (single or married) masturbate.

Although some religious groups say masturbation is wrong, others let individuals decide for themselves.

Auntie Stella