Did you know that one in three teens in the U.S. has experienced dating abuse and violence? One way to end dating abuse, or to help someone who is being abused is to know the signs.
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Every year on September 26th, we celebrate World Contraception Day (WCD), a global effort to bring awareness to a vital topic—access to contraceptives.…
Intersex Awareness Day started over 25 years ago on October 26, 1996 in Boston. That day several intersex people and their supporters publicly protested…
Unfortunately, LGBTQ+ teens often deal with stressors like discrimination and bullying, which can negatively impact their mental health. This includes…
Hey, hey, May is National Masturbation Month! This is a great opportunity to talk openly about masturbation. There is so much shame placed on exploring…
Experiencing sexual violence can be physically and emotionally tolling. You might feel isolated, ashamed or scared. Trusting someone else or being vulnerable…
Since 1988, World AIDS Day (December 1st) has been recognized as a time to remember those lost to AIDS-related illnesses, support those currently living…
Season one of Netflix’s Heartstopper, which premiered in April 2022, earned lots of love for fictional couple Charlie and Nick. Based on Alice Oseman’s…
With books that have gone viral, readers all over BookTok (a community of readers on TikTok) are celebrating bisexual representation. Bisexual Awareness…
Happy January! Not just the first month of the year, January is also Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. How much do you know about cervical cancer? It’s…
For almost half a century, those living in the U.S. have had the right to choose abortion as an option. We have Roe v. Wade, which turns 49 on January…
Did you know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month? While April is just about over, we should be aware of the prevalence and impact…
World AIDS Day has been recognized every year on December 1st since 1988. This day is a time to remember lives lost to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome…
Did you know that October 21 is International Pronouns Day? Many people may not think much about pronouns, but this is an opportunity to increase awareness…
In honor of October being LGBT History Month, I thought we should celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender icons that you’re, unfortunately,…
It’s National Suicide Prevention Month and that got me thinking about how the world can feel brutal sometimes: mean comments, rumors, judgment. Research…
After a week of constant ads for menstrual discs on my Snapchat, I finally gave in and tried them. The prospect of a 12-hour, no-(or-low) leak, potentially…
Last month, I went on my first socially distant date. Staying six feet apart, we sat on a quiet bench for a while and just chatted. It was really nice!…
With all the social distancing happening because of the coronavirus, a lot of people haven’t had as much contact with their partner as they’d probably…
The 2010s was a decade full of LGBTQ representation and discussion of mental health in film and television, from 13 Reasons Why to Booksmart. As someone…
Ever since joining (and now running) the SPEAK club at my school, I’ve learned a lot about teen dating violence. SPEAK is a part of a New Jersey nonprofit…
January 22 marks the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. When I was born, it had been decades since Roe v. Wade had established that legal access to abortion…
Not only did January 1, 2020 mark a new year, but also a whole new decade. It’s a good time to leave some trends in the past: athleisure wear, putting…
In March 2005, author John Green published Looking for Alaska, a novel following the lives of high school students Alaska Young, Miles “Pudge” Halter,…
Recently, 17-year-old Alaska high school swim champion, Breckynn Willis, won a 100-meter freestyle race, something common for the teen. What was uncommon,…
May 24th marks Pansexual Awareness and Visibility Day. Yay! Created on Tumblr in 2015, it means a lot to people like me who identify as pansexual. This…
Did you know that April is Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness Month? Thanks to this campaign, the month of April serves as a reminder of the…
Gender Spectrum, an organization whose mission is to create a gender-inclusive world for all children and youth, has just released a report about gender-inclusive…
You, one of Netflix’s newest series, follows Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley), a man that becomes obsessed with a woman he’s romantically interested…
Condoms. Perhaps the most well-known form of birth control and the only form of protection against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) besides dental…
Every year, Super Bowl season reminds me of my own experiences playing football as a young kid. Aside from teaching me that I should perhaps turn away…
October 21st to 27th is Asexual Awareness Week. The goal for this week, which was created by Sara Beth Brooks in 2010, is to teach people about asexuality,…
After I first came out two years ago, I thought I was over and done with it. I came out as bisexual to my friends and family (and received some unfortunate…
September 23 is Bi Visibility Day, also known as International Celebrate Bisexuality Day and Bisexual Pride Day. Bisexuality is the romantic and sexual…
After an exhausting junior year, summer has been the perfect time for me to kick back and explore a variety of shows on Netflix. One night, I came upon…
At 15, I was a proud bisexual girl, even if I wasn’t vocal about it at school. Living in Georgia, I was pleased that the kids in my high school seemed…
The first time David, 19, of Jersey City, NJ, was sexually assaulted, he was a high school student minding his own business on a train. A man sat down…
#MeToo, originally coined by activist Tarana Burke in 2006, has become a rallying call to discuss and prevent sexual assault in many fields, including…
Since the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the #MeToo movement has repeatedly demanded justice for victims of sexual harassment and assault. With good reason,…
The Degrassi franchise (which first showed up in the late 1970s and includes several different TV shows) has continued its trend of tackling difficult…
October 18th is Love Your Body Day! Don’t forget to love your body this fine Wednesday (and every day). The campaign, created by the National Organization…
With spring here and school nearing a close, it’s an exciting time of year. Promposals are popping up left and right, with creative posters, beautiful…
The ups and downs of “that” time of the month are all too familiar to many of us. To plan around this ebb and flow of hormones, mobile period-tracking…
March is Women’s History Month—a time to remember that the rights we exercise today are the product of our very slow evolution toward gender equality.…
We all have our phones on us most of the day, and we all use at least five apps a day, so why not add a few great sexual health apps? Recently, Answer—the…
With the holidays here, people are searching for gifts—no matter what they celebrate. But let’s face it, finding presents is a hard and time consuming…
It seems that every year there is another report of a group of male college students ranking their female peers on a scale of attractiveness or creating…
Eyes from around the globe are on the Olympics every two years, and 2016 was no different. What was different, however, was the number of openly lesbian,…
Recently the Project Consent campaign released a series of videos about what it means to give consent. The videos are absolutely adorable! Using a squishy…
Most people go on the Internet regularly, and nearly every teen has watched videos on websites like YouTube. Planned Parenthood Federation of America,…
On January 10, 2016 around third period study hall, I found out that David Bowie had lost his battle with cancer and died. It took me a minute to process…
Every year, December 1st marks World AIDS Day. On this day, we remember those who have lost their lives fighting HIV/AIDS and we help raise awareness.…
Most of us are constantly on our phones. Whether we are checking our texts or our many social media platforms, it seems that we always have our phones…
We have all heard of flavored condoms, scented condoms and condoms in different colors, but what about glowing condoms? And better yet, a glowing condom…
Can health care providers and patients use texting to promote more consistent birth control use? Yes, they can! Clinicians and public health advocates…
It started out the way you would expect a sexual assault public service announcement (PSA) to start: people were at a party, a beautiful girl was stumbling…
Despite a decline in teen pregnancy rates over the past few years, there are still many teenagers who become parents. As you can imagine, teen parents…
Most of us are familiar with the two most common forms of birth control: condoms and birth control pills. However, lately there has been a rise in use…
It’s that time again! Time to watch cliché romantic holiday movies with the cat, consume large amounts of cookies and not be kissed under the mistletoe.…
With the use of popular dating sites and chatting apps, meeting new people or just talking to your crush has become easier than ever. However, if you’re…
Apple recently came out with the iPhone 6 and the iOS 8 operating system. One new feature of the operating system is Apple’s HealthKit, a health application…
Every December 1st is World AIDS Day—a day focused on raising awareness of and ending the pandemic caused by the spread of HIV or human immunodeficiency…
Transgender Day of Remembrance is on November 20th. It’s a day to commemorate the lives of trans people or people perceived to be trans who were murdered…
MTV and Logo TV released a documentary Laverne Cox Presents:The T Word that follows the lives of seven young transgender people. Throughout the approximately…
Transgender Awareness Week runs from November 13th through November 20th. This week is about highlighting the T in LGBTQ. The T stands for transgender,…
The simple act of filling in a bubble asking whether I am male or female on an exam or on a job application is something that I never think twice about.…
What would happen if boys got to experience what it’s like to be a girl? What if they got to understand how girls are objectified in almost everything…
Spermania is a game that takes players on a journey through the female reproductive system. Available for use on Android devices, the game follows the…
When it comes to rape on college campuses, schools and the law usually portray both parties as guilty instead of only the person who committed the rape.…
Gender is usually not something most students need to think much about while working on their college applications. However, for applicants to single-sex…
Triceps, biceps, breasts, butts, legs and, most importantly, the face. Are these the characteristics that matter? When looking at someone for the first…
When you hear the phrase “like a girl,” what do you think of? In a recent commercial for Always, several teen girls and a few boys are told to perform…
Planned Parenthood has come out with a series of new apps, designed to educate young people about sexual health and sexuality topics. (We recently blogged…
Imagine hearing from other teens about birth control, condoms and sex with a few taps of your finger, right on your phone! Well, this is now a reality.…
Happy birthday, dear Sex, Etc., happy birthday to you! This month, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of Sexetc.org! In the last decade and a half, we’ve…
On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down its decision on the landmark case, Roe v. Wade. The case decided that states could not outlaw abortion…
You are at a party, and you witness a girl being harassed by a guy. Drunk, she feebly tries to brush off his unwelcomed advances, but still he persists,…
On August 19th, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill banning gay conversion therapy for minors. Gay conversion therapy is when a counselor…
East Los High is officially over, and what a season it has been! Remember if you missed it, you can still watch the whole season on Hulu. And for those…
As if we thought that nothing else crazy could happen on the Hulu series East Los High, it did! Remember Vanessa, who I told you guys about in my first…
The Hulu series East Los High, which started airing online last month, has taken me on a crazy roller coaster ride with all its plot twists and turns,…
Every year, tens of thousands of Americans are diagnosed with HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a staggering one…
Need some help sharing your STD status with your partner? The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is promoting Qpid.me, a website and free smart…
You may have heard the news about the Boy Scouts of America deciding to allow boys and teen guys who identify as gay to join their organization. While…
Eighteen-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt was enjoying her senior year at Sebastian River High School in Indian River County, Florida. She had been voted the student…
We’ve all heard of those egg or sack-of-flour babies handed out in health classes to show how difficult it is to care for a baby. Well, DoSomething.org’s…
There is one question that is often debated when it comes to teaching kids about sexual health: How early is too early? Currently, Chicago Public Schools’…
In the past, publishers of LGBTQ young adult literature were usually small presses and probably not part of the major companies that dominate the industry.…
Philadelphia has installed condom dispensers in 22 high schools throughout the city. Of the 6,500 Philadelphia students tested for sexually transmitted…
A few years ago, doctors wouldn’t have recommended that teenage girls use an intrauterine device (IUD) as a form of birth control. Now, that’s changing.…
Have you ever heard the myth that athletes shouldn’t have sex before a game or a match? Being an athlete, I was astonished to find out that some coaches…
Ever feel self-conscious about your appearance? Or feel pressured by your friends or the media to change the way you look? It’s no secret that society…
Last month the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first pill designed to inhibit the transmission of HIV. When compared to a placebo, the…
From the moment the Olympic torch is lit, people transcend the barriers of culture, race and language. Athletes from all over the world put aside their…
Ever hear of the Dollar Rubber Club? Well, let’s just say it will save a lot of people the agony of having to go to the store and buy condoms in public.…
Have you had unprotected sex with your partner, multiple partners or anonymous partners? Have you injected drugs or steroids or shared needles or syringes…
This video by StraightNotNarrow.ca conveys an important message for guys: Being a hater doesn’t make you straighter. This video attacks the relationship…
In March, a law passed the Utah State Senate and House that would allow schools to not include sexuality education in their curricula. This is in addition…
Mass Effect 3, the latest installment of the M-rated Mass Effect video game franchise, has a new feature, which has many video gamers up in arms. What’s…
With all the pressures teens feel to fit in, it can be really difficult to know how to respect or set personal boundaries. Community Healthcare Network’s…
In California, a service known as the Condom Access Project allows pre-teens and teens between the ages of 12 and 19 to order 10 condoms, lube and health…
If you’re a fan of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, you may recognize Whitney Purvis, who appeared on the show in 2009. Now age 20, she was arrested for shoplifting…
Real Talk4Teens, based in central New York, released this video with a catchy tune to promote condom use. From groups of boys on street steps throwing…
By popular request, Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania has stocked one of its vending machines with not candy bars or chips, but emergency…
This past January, the United States Justice Department announced that the legal definition of rape will be changing—meaning that, for the first time,…
I have a pretty comfortable routine: I roll out of bed, inhale a quick breakfast and go to (or sleep through) classes for hours at a time. My afternoon…
When I think about the ads for birth control or safer sex methods, Trojan brand condom commercials are the first things that come to mind. Whether it’s…
A new gel developed to help fight HIV infection is even more effective at reducing the risk of herpes transmission, according to a study published online…
Most of us are aware of how fashion magazines and lipstick commercials too often depict women: We’re reduced to overly sexualized, dolled-up mannequins…
When is the last time your feelings were hurt because of someone else’s words? My answer is—not so long ago. For as long as I can remember, classmates…