relationships

An extra toothbrush

An extra toothbrush. Check! Enough underwear to go a month without doing wash. Oh yeah. A bedspread carefully coordinated to compliment your roommate’s? Well, maybe not. In any case, your bags are packed, the family van is heaving under all the weight, and you can’t wait to start a new, exciting phase of your life.

But along with all the material items you’re bringing, don’t forget to prepare for the emotional and interpersonal chances and challenges awaiting you.

If you're choosing to wait to have a given kind of sex or all sex, the reason you are waiting is MOSTLY because

Reciprocity, Reloaded

I’m going to suggest you look at reciprocity in sex -- the idea that one person gives something, so the other should get something of equal value back -- in a different way than you might be used to. (Excerpted and adapted from S.E.X., the Scarleteen book.)

Go Ask Alice!

Columbia University's fantastic online question and answer service about sexuality, relationships and general health.

iwannaknow.org

Supported by the American Social Health Association, iwannaknow.org is a search function that allows youth to easily search topics of interest to them. Primarily devoted to preventing the transmission of STIs, there are also topics on puberty, love and relationships, and reproductive information.

Not a Faceless Disease

I started to grasp that AIDS hit very diverse people from lots of different backgrounds, but AIDS had no face for me. No real face, I mean. Only a face hidden in a shadow, or behind glasses, with a wig or a base cap and a weird, computerized voice, without a name. But it did get a name for me. And a face.

Condom Basics: A User's Manual

Using a condom is generally easier than it looks (especially if you can relax about it), but the first few times, it can be tricky, especially if you're nervous about knowing how to use one.