Did your kids get a new electronic gadget over the holidays? Does it enable them to use the Internet?
Did you know that, according to the National Center for Education Statistics and a Pew Research Internet Project, significantly more teenagers are online than are enrolled in school?
In addition, more and more self-education about sex is happening online — whether we want it to or not.
Sometimes, kids search for stuff because they are curious, or because of a dare, or because a classmate said something they didn’t want to admit they didn’t know and they want to find out what it is.
Chances are your middle school child may not come to you with that term they heard on the bus or at lunch and ask you what it means. It’s highly more likely that child will take out their phone or tablet or laptop and attempt to look it up.
You may have all your parental controls on high for just this reason — but let me suggest an additional step.
Consider unblocking the reputable sites listed below. Take a look at them, let your kids know you’ve unblocked them and why and allow your child to get medically accurate, inclusive information online.
As always, check them out yourself first, to make sure you know what’s coming. If your child asks you a question, you can even model going to one of these sites together to look up the answers.
Kidshealth.org is a general health website, with a section for parents, kids and teens. There is general information from everything from How the Body Works and Puberty and Growing Up (kids) to Drugs and Alcohol and Sexual Health (teens). This site also has quizzes and games.
Youngwomenshealth.org is part of Boston Children’s Hospital. It focuses on education, information and conferences for girls and young women. In addition to annual conferences on conditions such as endometriosis, they feature an online chat for questions. The site also has its Health Guide information available in Spanish here: youngwomenshealth.org/indice-guias-de-la-salud.
Pamf.org/teen: This site has a special teen section with information about general health, risk-taking (such as alcohol and smoking) and sexual health (with topics from virginity to unhealthy relationships to birth control). A cool feature of this site is the WAY2GO! Wellness Assessment for teens here: www.pamf.org/way2go/. They also have a preteen and young adult wellness assessment available.
Sexetc.org: Sex, etc. is published by Answer, which is part of Rutgers University. The website (as well as its hard copy magazine) includes articles written by teen staff writers for teens, as well as articles by national contributors. They are committed to accurate information for teens online. You can also look up what rights teens have regarding reproductive health, birth control, etc. by state.
Scarleteen.com: Scarleteen is an independent website that gets millions and millions of views each month from 15-25 year olds. In addition to having comprehensive and inclusive educational information, they have message boards that are highly moderated by staff and approved volunteers who answer questions. Scarleteen is the highest ranked sexuality education site online.
Plannedparenthood.org has a special section called “Info for teens.” It includes information about bodies, talking with adults, periods, birth control, dating, LGBTQ issues and even games and quizzes.
There are other great websites, too, but that should get you started.
Instead of blocking everything, be savvy, do your homework and provide smart places for your kids to get good information about bodies, relationships and growing up online. Who knows? You might even learn a thing or two together.
Federal Way resident Amy Johnson, MSW, is a trainer, educator and coach in the Pacific Northwest. She is co-author of the books, “Parenting by Strengths: A Parent’s Guide for Challenging Situations” and “Homegrown Faith and Justice.” Amy facilitates classes and workshops in the Puget Sound area and online. She specializes in working with parents and in sexuality education. Amy can be reached at comments@diligentjoy.com.
