Are you looking for some answers about puberty, sexuality, and relationships?
Before you google that question, here are a few things to think about when looking for health (especially sexual health) information on the internet:
1. Who is sponsoring this site? What is their goal? What is their reputation? Are they a known and respected organization?
2. Is it up-to-date? Does it tell you when the information was revised? For most sexual health issues the site should have been revised within the past couple years.
3. Does it tell you who reviewed it? (Good ones show their expert reviewers’ names and credentials.)
4. Is the website trying to sell you something? Vitamins? Condoms? Porn sites sometimes hide inside “health” sites, so be sure you are getting what you want. For example, the website address that once led to a lovely and up to date sexual health website has now been taken over by a porn group. Sigh.
And now for a few good sites:
Scarleteen.com If you want to some really practical advice that is inclusive of lots of different kinds of sexuality and sexual expression and get some, well, some very straightforward answers go to Scarleteen. There is also some great writing on making sex the first time a good experience.
teensource.org This site has non-judgmental, accurate, and reliable sexual and reproductive health information and resources. It also has the find a clinic feature for the state of California.
goaskalice.columbia.edu This is way more than just sex. It was written for Health Promotions at Columbia University, but now it has a huge readership beyond just Columbia. In fact, it gets 1,000 questions a week. It is up to date and a great way to get answers to all sorts of health questions
bedsider.org If you want to know something specific about a method of birth control or what it is like to use a specific kind of birth control