Teens Text and Google for Newfangled Sex Ed

Why teach sex education in class when students prefer to text and Google about it anyway? So say some health organizations and school districts that are setting up sex-ed websites and texting services for teens, the New York Times reports. And students seem to like it: “You can ask a random question about sex and you don’t feel it was stupid,” says a Denver-area high school senior. “Even if it was, they can’t judge you because they don’t know it’s you. And it’s too gross to ask my parents.”

Shrinking school budgets and ongoing controversy around sex education have inspired several sites and services, such as Sex-Ed Loop, ICYC (In Case You're Curious), Sexetc.org, and a YouTube rap video that urges students to “Sport Dat Raincoat." Critics contend that the information only promotes unsafe sex, but advocates say research shows the opposite is true. One admits she has more immediate concerns, like higher Google rankings: “How do I write content that says ‘sex’ 80,000 times," she says, "so our page will pop up in a kid’s search on Google near the top?” (More sex education stories.)