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Raves & Rants

Dear Readers, Go Ask Alice! would not be what it is had it not been for all of you, its readers. Without you, no questions would be asked, no Q&As would be browsed and read, no feedback/comments would be submitted, no site would remain in publication. In recognition of Go Ask Alice!'s readership, which helps keep the site going and continue to serve as a health information resource, it's only appropriate to share some kudos and criticisms from readers. Thank you, Alice!

  • I read one rant that complained that children read this site. In my high school when I [was a] junior, many students didn't understand that you could get STD's from oral sex and didn't even think that oral sex was sex. In a perfect world, yes parents would be the ones to talk to their own children. But this is reality and children hate talking to their own parents and rarely tell them if something is wrong. Well I am a parent too and sex plays a big part of in life for teens today. I am glad this site is here because sometimes the questions teachers and parents should be answering don't get asked.
  • I read many of your responses in the 'drug' area and was pleasantly surprised at how well informed Alice is. It is not often that someone actually takes the time to brave the sea of misinformation and spread the hard truth about sex and other sensitive topics.
  • I am taking a Human Sexuality class through our health department at my university and navigating through this site is one of our main topics. I love it and although my daughter and I communicate very well and open about sex (age appropriate, but she is almost 18) I have given her this web address so if she has any questions that she might feel uncomfortable to ask me, she can come here and find answers that are correct and well articulated as well as factual truths. I myself would rather my child get correct information from here rather than talking to her friends who are also teens and have no experience, nor do they know what they are talking about! For those parents who think this website is a horrible place for teens (under 18), you are very naive if you think your child/children are not talking about sex or hearing about sex in school. AND if they are not getting their information from you, then where do you think they get it? I am sure your letters will be appreciated, but I am certain there are more of us out here who are very happy that Go Ask Alice! is and will stay up and running!
  • I am a recovering speed addict. I liked all the info you gave that I have read. Your site has been very beneficial to people I am trying to help. Thank you for the comments and responses. Grateful to be clean.
  • Hi Alice! I'm a big fan of your site! I love all the positive, open, and medically accurate information that the site has to offer. I always refer people here because I know they can find the right answers to all sorts of questions. I think that some of the people who leave negative feedback don't realize how lucky they are that their kids are getting sexual health information from a non-judgmental & trusted source. There's plenty of inappropriate sites or people that they could be getting answers from.THANK GOODNESS they came to the right place! Thanks for being here & I send you a warm hug from Pasadena, CA! Keep up the great work!
  • I noticed that none of your RANTS&RAVES section has even ONE rant....seems to me you filter out the rants in favor of the raves. Tsk, tsk... Too bad you don't approach this with an OPEN mind, rather than filtering out the rants some of us have for your site now & then. Too much heat means you need to stay out of the kitchen. eh? With the addition of your comments this marks the sixth Rant currently live on this page. We're proud to note that nearly all the feedback we receive is a Rave. - Alice!
  • Thank you for being a profound resource for me in these years between teenage-hood and "adult", these twenty-something years that seem to be rife with emotional hurdles and game-changing choices...Having a go-to for the little worries that come up here and again has been a steadying anchor for my sometimes chaotic perception of reality. I can't count the number of times I've referred back to Alice for peace of mind. Please keep this up. I want to support this resource in any possible way, and would be so happy to do so. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make sure that Go Ask Alice! gets all the awareness and support that it deserves.
  • I understand that this website is being touted as a resource for NY Jr and Sr High students as part of a mandated sex ed program that begins as early as age 11. I read several of the questions and answers relating to sexual issues and would be appalled if my 11 year old was exposed to very adult sexual scenarios. I am a middle school teacher and a parent and am disgusted at one more assault on traditional family values. This kind of content is X-rated and I'm sure many simply enjoy peeking through the window of other people's sexual escapades. Doubt this will make your response page.
  • My iPhone has so rarely seen such a well-formatted mobile version of a website that it may very well have just short circuited from pure ecstasy and bliss.
  • I made a comment on an article, and after the submission was directed to a page which had a link to return to Alice's site. The problem is, it did not return me to the article I was reading, but to the home page. You can vastly improve navigation through your site by including a link to return readers to the page from which they came. This is one of those annoying problems that causes me, and possibly others, to abandon web sites, never to return.
  • I am a Pastor. Theologically, I am conservative and wince at some of the answers in the areas of sexuality. But, that is my issue. Most of the folks that I minister to (18 - 25 years of age) are looking for options; that you offer. I will recommend your site to my counselees.
  • I am a college student attending George Washington University. I wanted to commend you for providing what I feel is such a desperately needed service especially in this day and age. So much uncertainty and confusion about sexual matters plague college students (like myself), and a service like this allows them to receive counseling for these concerns thus providing them with tremendous relief. Thanks for doing such a great job, keep it up, and my only criticism is to make your site more well known.
  • When I choose to start giving to CU — which will be lots undoubtedly — I will be certain to think of Go Ask Alice!, because I think it brings an informed simplicity and absolute direct reach into those willing to seek it out.
  • Alice, I am an 18 year old male and am always in search of truth. Go Ask Alice! is an invaluable resource for anyone with health related questions or general curiousity. I feel rediculous saying (or typing?) this, but Go Ask Alice! really gives me hope. It has shown me there really are people that are being 100% truthful to people (I am mostly referring to teens) about a wide array of subjects. I will spread the word of Go Ask Alice! to everyone I think would take advantage of it. Thanks again for the refreshingly honest advice. Keep doin' what you're doin'!
  • Alice, I love your site. As far as the mothers who are so worried that their adolescents and teens will learn too much about sex too early...boy are you ladies in for a rude awakening. Unless you plan to secrete a mollusk-like protective shell around your children...they will hear it (and much worse) from their much less-educated friends and peers at school. The reality of the situation is that sex education is extremely important. I knew a girl in sixth grade who ended up pregnant at age 12...Kids have a natural curiosity about sex and certain urges that need to be explained to them so that they don't make stupid decisions or feel alienated and turn to inappropriate persons or sources (such as actual pornography) too young. Knowledge is power and if you think the information on the Ask Alice site is porn, again I say, wow! I suggest home school, a chastity belt, and whatever you do, stay away from the internet!!
  • I have been receiving your update emails for a little while, and have always found them a source of good honest plain information on all manner of things. Thank you for providing a great service and I hope that more people over the world find you and appreciate the service that you provide.
  • I was looking for info. on my young daughter inhaling Helium and found the required answer on your site. Just wanted to say, I thought your information was excellent, and refreshingly unbiased when dealing with difficult issues. Many thanks.
  • Thanks, and I have to say that I find your service extremely helpful, and regarding any criticism saying that it's 'unhealthy' for kids, I'd have to say that NOT knowing about their bodies, sexuality, and mental health is much more dangerous than KNOWING could ever be! (I'm sure that if I had proper sex education I wouldn't even need to write this question).
  • This web site is an amazing resource, fascinating as well as educational. Thank you so much for educating me on whether I can dye my pubic hair or not, if it's bizarre to be addicted to Nicorette and whether online dating is safe or not. Do your thing, honey!
  • Just wanted you to know that a group of us females were told of your website. As parents, we had a discussion and the results were that we would never let our under 18 children view your site. We believe you have clearly crossed the line with regards to what is normal. Giving non-medical advice and your apparent condoning of certain deviant sexual activity is disgusting. We have all agreed to write the trustees of your university to voice our concern and disgust of your content. Sexual health questions are best answered by parents and physicians.
  • Hey Alice, I feel that the "Hard" Drugs section title is extremely misleading, especially when placed next to titles such as "Alcohol" and "Nicotine". It implies that alcohol and nicotine are softer, and therefore physically less harmful, than certain alternatives that you have labeled as "hard" (such as LSD, mescaline and psilocybin). What's more, you have placed these psychedelics in the same category as heroin, speed, cocaine, etc. You are comparing "apples and oranges," so to say, and it would be inappropriate to lump them into the same category. Perhaps the title "Other Drugs" would be a more suitable replacement.
  • You are something that I hope to aspire to be — someone who can help others, who can touch others, and who can help create a better individual, community, and world.
  • As a graduate of Columbia College, I have found the Core Curriculum to be of life-long value, for which I have remained appreciative. But, 'Go Ask Alice!' on Columbia's web site — its quality and candor and caring — to my mind (and body) rival, if not exceed, the Core in terms of its value in edifying a human (and sexual) being for a lifetime of personal, and interpersonal, fulfillment. I wonder to what degree 'Go Ask Alice!' is responsible for Columbia College's surging popularity.
  • Great site Alice! I've learned more in the last twenty minutes than I did in the last five years.
  • Thank you so much for your great website! I cannot express my gratitude and respect in the full degree — you deserve much more appreciation than my words!!! It is especially true, because English is not my first language. We have enjoyed your expertise, education, and wisdom... We are especially grateful to you for having presented us the unique opportunity to receive correct information from the best website on the Internet.
  • This site is absolutely amazing. It is incredibly helpful and informative. The staff does a superlative job. You should all be very proud. Keep up the good work!
  • Alice, if not for your newsletters, which I subscribed to, my work would not be as well known as it is. You are generous and so good to your subscribers and I thank you so much for letting me be a part of your wonderful newsletter. Best wishes to you and yours!
  • I am the guy who posed the question about my friend cutting me off (alone on Amsterdam Ave.) I just want you to know that your response really has made me feel better — well, somewhat at least — about this whole situation. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much indeed.
  • Thanks for being so on target with the "questions" you select to answer, and for being so accurate and sincere in your information and analysis. To whomever you consist of, and your "staff." Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!!!!
  • THANK YOU for this site! Being raised sheltered, and in a conservative environment where sex was never discussed, you have answers to so many of the questions I have! Now that I'm sexually active I've been ignorant of too many things for too long... It's such a relief to finally have a resource to go to. Favorited, and reading!
  • I really became happy to see that in other countries, you teach the people the things that are necessary. I live in Iran. The People do not explain what is needed for life. They think that speaking about these things is trouble and they think correctly. I really thank all the people that have made this site. I have never tried relationship or kissing or stuff like that, as a matter of fact Islam has banned it. Really, I see you live in another world. You can't imagine the difference between us. At last I would kiss the hands of all the people that have constructed this site. Bye, a student who is living in Iran.
  • Dear Alice, Thanks for this wonderful website! Its been very very useful and it has become my go-to site whenever I need reliable information on any health and sexuality related topic, from the most mundane to stuff I never knew about, and for which there is often no one to ask or no trustworthy resource. Keep up the great work! You are doing us youngsters a remarkable service!! Really, can't thank you enough! Alice fan from India.
  • Dear amazing Alice: I found the website amazingly useful. I am very grateful for the great contribution.
  • Why don't you ever post new questions? Everything I've seen for the past few months has just been a eviewed" old question!
  • This is an incredibly good site. I especially appreciate that there are no ads, because they distract my attention. - Happy Reader
  • This site is marvelous!! It offers tons of answers to questions that one doesn't dare to ask. It make me feel better about myself too when I saw that I'm not alone. You answer questions beautifully and are very open about it. I can see why some people would find your site offensive, but I think that answers to those questions are needed. I myself think that your answers,while it might make one blush and feel awkward, are not in any way offensive. This site is very helpful. Nice!

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