Dear Pastor,

I read your column regularly. You can call me a big fan of yours because I also listen to your show at nights. I am thirty-five years old. I am married but my husband is presently working in the United States of America. I have two children, one boy and one girl. I am writing you because of a problem with my son. It's not such a great problem as far as I am concerned but he is embarrassed by what is happening to him. I know he reads your column so when you respond to my letter, I will show it to him.

My son is a teenager and is experiencing wet dreams and is very embarrassed about it. My son does not wash but I knew something was happening when I noticed he started to wash his briefs. Then one day he had to go out early and I went into his room to wake him up and when he turned over, I observed that he was wet down there and he was embarrassed by it. I told him that he should not be embarrassed because that happens to all young men.

I did not know that his sister was mocking him and telling him that it is because he is thinking about having sex with girls why he was experiencing wet dreams. He said that whenever it happens he has no control over it and it makes him feel that he is a bad sinner. I also told him that whenever that happens he ought not to wash his clothes, he should just throw everything in the basket with the dirty clothes. So, for the sake of other young men and my son, say a word on wet dreams, please.

N.L.

Dear N.L.,

The official name for wet dreams is nocturnal emission. It occurs when a male ejaculates while he is sleeping. He releases semen (the fluid that contains sperm) from his penis. "Usually a wet dream happens while you're having a dream about sex. You may not even remember the dream. You don't have to masturbate to have a wet dream. You can ejaculate without touching your penis."

"When you go through puberty, your body starts producing the male hormone testosterone. Once your body makes testosterone, it can release sperm. This means you'll be able to fertilize an egg if you decide to have a baby in the future. It also means you can get a girl pregnant if you have sex. During puberty, you'll start having erections at all different times of the day - in school, while you watch TV, in the shower. You can even have an erection while you sleep. Semen can build up inside your body. One way that semen gets released is with a wet dream."

"Wet dreams are a normal part of growing up. There's nothing you can do to control or stop wet dreams. Even if you have a lot of wet dreams it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. Some guys have wet dreams a few times a week. Others may only have a couple of wet dreams during their entire life. Once you start releasing sperm by masturbating or having sex with a partner, you may have fewer wet dreams".

Pastor