What Teens Need To Know About Choking During Sex

Seven must-read stories about mental health, sextortion, vaping, and more. Plus: Is it really bad to rinse after brushing your teeth?

Hi readers - In addition to a free newsletter on Tuesday, I regularly send out these curated collections of thought-provoking news stories to paid subscribers. Think of me as your friend who keeps up with everything and sends you the most interesting stuff! — Christopher

In this edition:

• The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex

• How Covid Lockdowns Hit Mental Health Of Teenage Boys Hardest

• Instagram Begins Blurring Nudity In Messages To Protect Teens And Fight Sexual Extortion

• Parents, It's Time To Talk To Your Child About Vaping

• How Much Dairy Milk Do Children And Adults Really Need?

• Why Dentists Say You Shouldn’t Rinse After Brushing

• The Atmosphere of the ‘Manosphere’ Is Toxic

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex (New York Times)

Debby Herbenick is one of the foremost researchers on American sexual behavior. The director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University and the author of the pointedly titled book “Yes, Your Kid,” she usually shares her data, no matter how explicit, without judgment. So I was surprised by how concerned she seemed when we checked in on Zoom recently: “I haven’t often felt so strongly about getting research out there,” she told me. “But this is lifesaving.”

For the past four years, Dr. Herbenick has been tracking the rapid rise of “rough sex” among college students, particularly sexual strangulation, or what is colloquially referred to as choking. Nearly two-thirds of women in her most recent campus-representative survey of 5,000 students at an anonymized “major Midwestern university” said a partner had choked them during sex (one-third in their most recent encounter). The rate of those women who said they were between the ages 12 and 17 the first time that happened had shot up to 40 percent from one in four. READ MORE

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Photo by Christian Erfurt on Unsplash

How Covid Lockdowns Hit Mental Health Of Teenage Boys Hardest (The Guardian)

Teenage boys were hit hardest by the Covid lockdowns, with their mental health failing to recover despite the return to normality, according to the most comprehensive academic study of its kind.