Mental Health, Sex Ed, LGBTQ+, Social Justice/Inclusion
Being a teenager means working on figuring out who you are and finding your place in the world. The resources listed here include books, websites, and organizations that can provide you with information to help you make sense of everything.
Mental Health
The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine has put together an amazing array of resources appropriate for teens and young people. We’ve aggregated some of them here for your convenience.
Center for Young Women’s Health and Young Men’s Health: These websites provide a series of guides on emotional health, including test anxiety, depression, bullying, and eating disorders, as well as overall health.
Go Ask Alice!: Geared towards young adults, this question and answer website contains a large database of concerns surrounding emotional health.
Change To Chill: Looking for mindfulness?
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: SAMHSA provides information on mental health services and treatment centers through a service locator.
If you are in need of someone to talk to, please reach out to any of these resources:
- Crisis Text Line or Text “START” to 741-741
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
- National Eating Disorder Association or call 1-800-931-2237
- The Trevor Project (for LGBTQ Youth) or call 1-866-488-7386
- HOPELINE for Youth or call 877-YOUTHLINE
- Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance or call 800-826-3632
- Al-Anon For Teens and Families or call 888-4AL-ANON
- National Runaway Safeline or call 800-RUNAWAY (800-786-2929)
- Trans Lifeline or call 877-565-8860
Sex Education
Skip to End of CarouselGo Ask Alice!: Geared towards young adults, this question and answer website contains a large database of concerns surrounding emotional health.
Sex, Etc. from Rutgers University: Written by teens for teens, this website covers bodies, relationships, birth control, safer sex and other sexual health topics.
Amaze.org: Reliable info shared in fun, animated videos that give you all the answers you actually want to know about sex, your body and relationships.
LGBTQ+ Resources
Skip to End of CarouselGay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network: GLSEN is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. This website provides resources on finding GSA Chapters, and tools on how to establish or reestablish a GSA.
PFLAG: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, is the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people and their families, parents, and allies.
Advocates for Youth: An organization that works alongside thousands of young people here in the U.S. and around the globe as they fight for sexual health, rights and justice.
GSA Network: An organization uniting trans and queer youth for racial and gender justice. There are lots of resources for starting your own student-run GSA club, which can help serve as a safe space in middle and high schools.
Q Chat Space: A safe, diverse, and live chat community for LGBTQ+ teens, moderated by experienced staff.
If you are looking for more information to share with peers and adults in your life, check out Snappy Word’s LGBTQ Student Toolkit: Resources for Inclusivity and Support.
A Nurse’s Comprehensive Guide to Gender-Affirming Care: A comprehensive guide for aspiring nurse practitioners, offering insights into various program options and areas of specialization to help individuals find the right fit for their career goals
Finding Your True Voice: A Guide to Gender-Affirming Verbal Communication: Information provided by Online Speech-Language Pathology Programs
Activism & Social Justice
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to books about social justice, activism, powerful voices, and what you can do to help. You can request any of the books below, come to the library to ask for more recommendations, or check out our booklists online.
Skip to End of CarouselYou can find a great list of suggested resources here at The Youth Activism Project, a female-led nonprofit organization aiming to help teens facilitate social change. Additionally, Advocates for Youth has put together a Youth Activist Toolkit.
Homework Help
Visit the local high school’s libraries for information about homework, curriculum, book lists, and more:
Newton North High School Library Learning Commons
Newton South High School Library
Learning to Drive
Start your free Massachusetts RMV Practice Test right here. This link includes the Massachusetts state driving handbook, and more information about road signs than you’ll ever think you’ll need (but trust us, you’ll be glad you learned!) The Massachusetts DOT website has information about the driver’s license process here, too.
Free DMV permit practice tests for your patrons. No ads, no account, no card required.
DMV Ready – Free DMV permit practice tests for all 50 states and DC. Ad-free, no account required, and no personal data collected. Practice questions and answer explanations matched to your state’s official driver handbook.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has put together numerous resources for new drivers and their families, including information about driving under the influence, solar glare, driving with other people in the car, and much more.
You can find resources for parent/driver contracts, and more about safe driving, at the CDC website.