Common Sense Media Review
By Erin Brereton , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Easy-to-understand videos answer kids' sex ed questions.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 11+?
Any Positive Content?
Videos and Photos
Amaze
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 2 parent reviews
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Privacy Rating
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Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What’s It About?
Created by three health and sexual information advocacy groups in 2016, AMAZE serves as an online sexual education resource for kids age 10 to 14. Short videos hosted on the site's YouTube channel and on Amaze focus on topics ranging from puberty to STDs and HIV, pregnancy, and personal safety. Each video features written information for kids and resources for parents, such as conversation starters. A Parent Playlist series added in 2018 is designed to help parents talk with younger kids about sex, healthy relationships, and growing up. A separate section called Amaze Jr. also focuses on migrating the parent playlist content into a collection of info for younger kids age four and up, with age-appropriate topics and resources.
Is It Any Good?
This education-based site was created to provide accurate, relatable content for kids who might otherwise stumble upon pornographic or other adult content when searching for sexual health information. Amaze's founders used focus groups to determine what subjects and structure -- including elements like humor and narration -- they should include. Approximately 30 Youth Ambassadors, age 10 to 17, also assist with content guidance and promotion, and have appeared in at least one video, discussing sex education and answering user questions. The result is a site with concise videos that provide an overview for a number of topics kids may be wondering about.
The videos take a generally informative, not opinionated approach to the subject matter they cover. One on deciding whether you're ready to have sex or not, for example, mentions elements to consider but doesn't advise kids to make one choice or another. The site also offers a My Amaze feature, which lets parents share specific videos or groups of videos with their child. Because a few videos touch on controversial topics (e.g., masturbation) that some parents may want to discuss with their kids in person, or feel they're too young to know about, parents will likely welcome the chance to handpick viewing selections. An age guide and a Parent Playlist series, added in 2018, was created to help parents discuss sex, healthy relationships, and other topics with younger kids. There's also a separate section called Amaze Jr. that focuses on migrating the parent playlist content into a collection of info for younger kids age four and up, with age-appropriate topics and resources. That includes content like, "Where do babies come from?" Still, videos don't seem to be posted often enough for kids to check back daily; some sections contain 18 to 20 or so items, and others have slightly more than 30. But there's plenty of content to hold their interest when they initially stop by -- and the information is presented in an approachable way for a younger audience, using cartoon characters to illustrate concepts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how gender and sexual identity are shown in media. Do you have any concerns about how gender and sexual identity are shown in TV shows or movies?
Do you or your child have any concerns about puberty-related changes? Do the videos and content on sites like Amaze reduce the concerns related to facing these physical and emotional changes?
Website Details
- Subjects: Science : biology
- Skills: Self-Direction : personal growth, Emotional Development : handling stress, identifying emotions, self-awareness, Health & Fitness : body awareness
- Genre: Educational
- Pricing structure: Free
- Last updated: December 6, 2022
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