Health, Sex Education and HIV Websites

1. Kids Aware

Description:
This website for students 3rd grade and up talks about basic themes students need to know to be safe. This includes "Stranger Danger" and even internet and cell phone safety. Each section has catchy acronyms to help students remember safety tips. There are no adds on this site.
Critique:
The website itself is not very flashy and there are not activities for the students to do. It is more of a resource for the students as opposed to a place where they can go "hang out" for awhile. There are some terms on the webiste that the teacher may need to explain to the students like FAQ.

2. Kids First for Health

Description:
This website brought to you by Ormond Street Hospital covers and array of health issues for children including what hospitals are like, illness, and puberty. It has tabs for children to click on leveling the site to their age: 4-18. The site includes games, pictures, interviews, "Ask the Doc" and diagrams. The website is based in the UK and has no adds.
Critique:
All of the activities need reading so even the 4-6 age tab had reading necessary for the activities. Because the site is based in the UK some of the language is culturally situated and may not make sense to even a more ready reader. Be sure to preview the page before using it to see what vocabulary you made need to pre-teach.

3. Go Ask Alice

Description:
This website brought to you by Columbia University is a health and sex education website for 6th grade and up. It includes information on drugs and alcohol, emotional health, sexuality, sexual health, and fitness and nutrition. It includes frquently asked questions, themes of the week, and a place where kids can "Ask Alice" questions. There are no adds on this site.
Critique:
I would be cautious using or recommending this site to students as a teacher because it contains sensitive and adult materials that parents and or the district may not support. You could possibly recommend it to a parent first to look at and then they could descide if they wanted to share it with their child.

4. Kids Health

Description:
This website was one of the few that addresses HIV and AIDS for children. I would recommend it for 4th grade and older. It is also available in Spanish. The website gives a "kid" friendly explanation of the disease over 5 pages of text. There are adds on this page.
Critique:
This website does not have fancy graphics or games. It is just a straight forward explanations of HIV/AIDS. I would recommend heavy scaffolding for you students on terms, and processes. Senstive topics like this are better to be taught in person.

5. Learn to be Healthy

Description:
This website for grades 4 and up covers a multitude of health topics. Its an interactive and fun website where students can explore on their own health topics that might interest them. The site includes information, games, activities and even a "personal locker" to keep information. The site had no advertisements.

Critique:
To acess some of the features of the site you have to make a user name and log in for them. Also, the site itself requires some computer features to run. If the schools computers don't have the proper upgrades the site may run poorly or not at all.