Q: I've just turned 11, but I'm finding myself thinking sexual thoughts about males and females. I'm also fully aware of anything relating to sexual acts. Is this normal?

A: It is very normal when someone is just entering puberty to be very aware of sexual feelings and to have lots of thoughts about sex involving people of both genders. 11 years of age would be a common age for girls to be well into puberty and also a time when many boys are starting puberty. (Boys usually start puberty later than girls.) So whether you are a girl or a boy, your feelings are completely normal.

It takes awhile to sort all of these feelings out and to understand how they apply to you, so it is no surprise either that you are thinking about these feelings a lot. As you get older your feelings about sex and kind of persons you are attracted to will be more understandable to you.

Even though you say you are very aware of sex, it sounds like you need some better education about your sexual feelings and about sexual behaviors and values. We encourage you to talk to your parents or another adult family member about your feelings and questions. If you don't feel comfortable with discussing it with them, your health care provider or a counselor at school may be helpful.

Talking to your parents or other trusted adult will help you get the best information possible about sex and about your feelings and will prevent you from getting wrong information from your peers. This is the time in your development, too, that you need to develop good values and principles about sex and about friendships and relationships with other people in general. Guidance of your family and other adult professionals will help you do that. To have TeenGrowth's board of physicians answer your health question, visit the Web site (http://www.teengrowth.com) or e-mail feedback@teengrowth.com. TeenGrowth is a non-commercial Internet site that focuses exclusively on the educational health issues of adolescents.