gURL (http://gurl.com/)
common sense media says
Frank girls' site has advice, fun, and iffy stuff.
parents & educators say
- 100% say sexual content is an issue
- 100% say it's educational
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this hub for teen girls does have some valuable information (health issues) and can foster creativity (encourages poetry writing), but also has several interactive elements that might raise some eyebrows. The site monitors its message boards only "as often as we can" -- not 24 hours a day -- so questionable language and photos do slip through, although users are discouraged from posting either. Girls also ask and answer questions on frank topics like having sex in the woods; some user-posted photos show girls downing Jack Daniels or posing seductively in their underwear on a bed.
Educational value:
The site offers information about STDs, mental health issues, and other topics in its "Fast Facts" section.
Violence:
Not applicable.
Sex:
The site encourages open dialogue that sometimes gets sexual. Girls discuss having sex and post topics like "If I could f--k someone famous..."
Language:
The site prohibits "pornographic, racist, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate usernames" and removes language deemed inappropriate -- but words like "Hellz," "penis" and "martini" can be found.
Consumerism:
Nair sponsors an advertorial section on hair removal; clothes in an avatar dress-up section link to Sears' online store.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Many of the photos users post include drinking champagne and hard liquor.
More on gURL
Review It
Based on 3 parent & educator reviews:
- 100% say sexual content is an issue
- 100% say it's educational
- 67% say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking
- 67% say there are positive messages
- 33% say language is an issue
Most useful reviews by all members
clairise
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
perfect for any age 12+
i think this is a great website for teenage girls because it gives them the facts about their period, ther pubes, their "hair" down there and what to do with it, dating issues and family issues. its just very educational and gives you the facts on sex and everything else. i dont find it bad..
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Rodeo-Girl
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Yuck!
This site is horrible, if I say so myself. A lot of topics are related to sexual topics, and a lot of that stuff. It is awful bad, and anyone can say anything! This is bad.
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ilovegir
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
mehhh. not too bad
its ok. if ur having problems with boys, ur body, or daily life, this is where you go. You get to ask questions and get good feedback. Also, you can look at what other girls have asked and see what they got. Its very useful and there are fun games on here too.
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Nerdy_Mamma
parent of and 5 , 7 , 11 , 11 , 14 , 16 year old
parent of and 5 , 7 , 11 , 11 , 14 , 16 year old
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undergurl
kid, 12 years old
kid, 12 years old
I like this site estpiecally the comics and they talk about what might happen later on, or what happen if I do this. It is a good site for teaching them what might happen.
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-smile.kid-
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Teen Straight-Talk
It's not encouraging negative behavior. The website gives girls the facts about sex, drugs, body image, and relationships. The website is educational, it doesn't encourage you to go out and have sex with every guy you see. That's still your choice to make. Gurl just gives you the information you need to make these choices.
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XeeraH
adult
adult
older kiddies, tweens erm okay
Quite an okay site, I know there are other better sites for girls. Did discuss bout matters that parents tend to avoid but yeah it gets a little too much at times. Don't know if girls displaying photos of themselves online for all to see is a good idea. Should hae some privacy on that. Been there when I was a little younger but not so fantastic, I dunno... it maybe to some
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ilenee.
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Go GURL :]
Yes, there are some iffy stuff on there, but it basically is a website where a girl can get some advice from other people. Not to mention to meet new people and to express herself. I've been there a lot lately, and its not bad. its actually educational because you learn about your changing body.. boys.. all the subjects a girl needs to know when she's growing up.
So i think its a go
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thedramaqueen17
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
good 4 16 n up no younger
wow! im 14 and i think this site is horrendous! i was on 4 ten minutes and already i see horrind cursing not just h*** but i see the f word muliple time bleh this site is not good at all.
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adjaja
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Great Website for Teens
I really like it, it gives great information on important issues, such as stuff moms talk about with their daughters.
There are some comics that include sex, but it is not shown in images and they don't discuss the actual sex.
In one comic a girl discusses buying condoms with her cat.
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ThreeDaysGrace ...
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Perfect for older kids, but not for tweens.
This is a good site -again, member-, it's educational and is very helpful.
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Nerd Philosophies.
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
It's a good site for mature tweens and teens
This site is pretty open with issues teenage girls face. Help me Heather is a pretty good help section. The fact that anyone can comment is great, because actual girls can tell you how it really is. The sexual content isn't encouraging sex in preteens and teens, just explaining concepts of safe and unsafe sex, STDs, and all the consequences of having sex. The label it section has some iffy language, but it's all in educational purpose.
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koala6324
kid, 11 years old
kid, 11 years old
More of a teen site, not tweens are young girls
Eh, this site isn't the best butisn't for girls 10 and under it encourages s*x and has some iffy languages.
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smallfie100
parent of 14 year old
parent of 14 year old
girlrules
i think i love it so muc h i want to be in it so bad
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americangirl2
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
NOT okay!
Why encourage negitive behavior???
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Zaphrodite
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Good for curious girls
Those of you who can't stomach it don't go.
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Brittasaur
teen, 16 years old
teen, 16 years old
Disgusting website
I'm 15 and I used to go to this site all the time to read the comics (which are usually gross too) and enter giveaways, and then I slowly started venturing to the articles. I was completely surprised at what they were encouraging teen girls to do. I even felt really influenced, and if it wasn't for my strict parents I would probably be on the show 16 and Pregnant right now, no joke. I was that brainwashed by the articles and the people on this site.
The site really looks family friendly at first glance, but then you dig up articles encouraging having sex with your boyfriend, talking about how 'fun' sexting is, and they even bother talking about things like pornography, drinking, and drugs.
I don't think teens of any age (even some adults, really) should be on this site. If you do let your kids go on this site then I recommend buying a monitoring program (which is NOT an invasion of privacy, if you care about your kids well being), or spend time with your kids every night discussing the topics on this site. If they don't learn about these things at this site then they are going to learn elsewhere, possibly by a friend or a teen magazine. It's better for them to learn about peer pressure through this site, and then have a discussion with them and focus on what is right and what is wrong so they wont give in to peer pressure.
There are good things on this site, like giveaways and games. But the cons really outweigh the pros. There is a nice discussion board, untill you find out half of the girls love to brainwash others into thinking sex before marriage is a healthy way to test your relationship.
If you care about your teen, don't let them go to this website. This site even encourages things that are illegal for teens, like sexting and cyber sex. This site isn't healthy for teens at all.
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