15+ Best Free Sites For Teenagers (Under 18) Who Want To Stand Out
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Top 15+ Best Free Sites For Teenagers (Under 18) Who Want To Stand Out |
Teens who wish to add more entertainment to their online activity can find a large selection of social networking websites, places to play games, and other sites based on their interests.
Adolescence is a key time for developing an identity and forming lifelong healthy behaviors. However, mental health conditions among teens are on the rise.
According to Mental Health America, in the United States in 2021, 13.84 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds reported experiencing at least 1 major depressive episode. Yet 59.6 percent of them didn’t receive treatment.
In the era of the internet, it can be easy to find cool websites for teens and youths to let you play games, chat with others, and learn a thing or two along the way. Here are the best websites for teens.
Top 15+ Best Free Sites For Teenagers (Under 18) Who Want To Stand Out
1. Teen Vogue
2. Young Composers
3. artandwriting
4. Habbo
5. Girl Up
6. HowStuffWorks
7. Young Arts
8. Underlined
9. Parallax Online
10. Kongregate
11. Polyphony Lit
12. Cartoon Network
13. NaNoWriMo
14. Scratch
15. DoSomething
16. Khan Academy
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1. Teen Vogue
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Photo: nytimes |
Teen Vogue is an online-only sister publication of Vogue magazine. Sure, Teen Vogue posts about the latest fashion trends and what your favorite celebrities are wearing, but it's much deeper than that.
The site covers "the latest in celebrity news, politics, fashion, beauty, wellness, lifestyle, and entertainment". It has a wide variety of opinion articles on the biggest current affairs, ensuring that you remain informed and critical.
Link: https://www.teenvogue.com/
2. Young Composers
Do you play an instrument or like composing your own musical pieces? If so, Young Composers is the place for you. It's a message board for people to discuss everything to do with music.
You can upload your own compositions and get community feedback, rate other people's work, and participate in the monthly competitions. Not only is it a great place to speak with like-minded people, but it will also build up your confidence in music.
Link: https://www.youngcomposers.com/
3. artandwriting
The nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teenagers in grades 7 to 12. In 2018, students submitted nearly 350,000 works of visual art and writing to the Scholastic Awards; more than 90,000 works were recognized at the regional level and celebrated in local exhibitions and ceremonies. The top art and writing at the regional level were moved onto the national stage, where more than 2,800 students earned National Medals. National Medalists and their educators were celebrated at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Link: https://www.artandwriting.org/
4. Habbo
Habbo has been around since 2000 before current teenagers were born. While Habbo isn't as popular as it once was, it remains a great virtual hangout. You can create your own character and roam around a larger-than-life hotel as you chat with other players and participate in games.
You can also collect furniture and build your own rooms, where you can then invite others too. While you can buy furniture and other benefits with real money, you can happily wind away the hours on Habbo without spending a dime.
Link: https://www.habbo.com/
5. Girl Up
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Photo: kathleenkenney |
This initiative spearheaded by the United Nations Foundation seeks to empower girls around the world to become leaders. The website and foundation fund programs promote the health, safety, education, and leadership of girls around the globe and include a community of over half a million youth and adult advocates. Through the website, you can start a Girl Up club, learn how to fundraise for programming, learn about challenges faced by girls, read blogs and join the community to start chatting and helping.
Link: https://girlup.org/
6. HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks isn't specifically a website for teenagers, but rather for all ages because it takes topics from the world of health, science, nature, and more, and makes them easy to understand.
For example, you can find out about Henry VIII and all his wives, the secrets of a mountaintop city, and how dangerous beavers are. It features all sorts of obscure topics and you're sure to come away with some interesting nuggets of information to impress your friends and family with.
If you want more complicated topics made digestible, visit these sites that make science simple.
Link: https://www.howstuffworks.com/
7. Young Arts
The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 to identify and nurture the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design, and performing arts, and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development. YoungArts’ signature program is an annual application-based award for emerging artists ages 15 to 18 or in grades 10 to 12 from across the United States in categories that include cinematic arts; classical music; dance; design arts; jazz; photography; theater; visual arts; voice; and writing.
Link: https://youngarts.org/competition/
8. Underlined
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Photo: commonsense |
If you like reading or writing, you should head on over to Underlined. The team post regularly with their latest book recommendations, fun quizzes, and activities like how to create a heart-shaped bookmark.
That's just the surface of Underlined, though. If you sign up for an account then you can post your own stories to share with the community. It's a great way to practice your writing and express your creativity. You can also browse other people's stories to get inspired.
Link: https://www.getunderlined.com/
9. Parallax Online
Parallax Literary Magazine has been published by the Creative Writing department of Idyllwild Arts Academy since 1997. Idyllwild Arts Academy is a college preparatory boarding high school dedicated to the passion of young artists. Created, designed, and run by students, Parallax has always championed the high school writer by publishing the best of Idyllwild students’ creative writing and visual art. In 2011 Parallax expanded by adding an online component, which accepts submissions from high school students worldwide. The website also showcases student book reviews and writer interviews for the first time.
Link: https://parallax-online.com/submit/
10. Kongregate
It's important to have some fun, and what better way to do it than playing online games? Kongregate has heaps of great games for you to dive into.
You will find every type of game here, from those good for a short burst to those you can sink your teeth into. The games span genres like adventure, racing, and puzzle, and there are even those you can play in multiplayer.
If you enjoy playing the games on Kongregate, here are more browser games that you don't need Adobe Flash for.
Link: https://www.kongregate.com/
11. Polyphony Lit
A student-run, international literary magazine for high school writers and editors, which invites submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from high school students worldwide. Our student editors provide feedback to all submissions, including the ones we do not accept for publication. In addition, we offer two other opportunities:
The Polyphony Lit Cover Art Contest: High school students from around the world are encouraged to submit visual art for the cover of their annual literary magazine.
The Claudia Ann Seaman Awards for Young Writers: Annual awards to high school students in poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Each year, a distinguished panel of professionally published authors chooses one winner and two honorable mentions in each genre. The winners are awarded a $200 cash prize. Students from around the world are encouraged to submit.
Link: https://www.polyphonylit.org/
12. Cartoon Network
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Photo: pinterest |
You know Cartoon Network from its great shows like Teen Titans Go, Victor and Valentino, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. If you're a fan, you should definitely visit its website, which is packed with awesome goodies.
There are games to play, videos to watch, quizzes to take, and activities to take. For example, you can learn how to draw your favorite characters or create a brand-new character to slot into one of Cartoon Network's shows. If you like the lineup, you can also download the apps so that you can access all the fun when on the go.
Link: https://www.cartoonnetworkasia.com/
13. NaNoWriMo
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!
Our Young Writers Program supports under-18 writers and K-12 educators as they participate in our flagship event each November, and take part in smaller writing challenges year-round.
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create! Our Young Writers Program supports under-18 writers and K-12 educators as they participate in our flagship event each November, and take part in smaller writing challenges year-round.
Summer Writing: Stay cool and creative all summer long by participating in Camp NaNoWriMo’s July session—either online here or over at Camp NaNoWriMo, or offline by using our writer-friendly, print-out-able Summer Writing Program resources. Choose a project you care about, set an ambitious goal, get feedback on your progress, and receive support from an international community of fellow writers.
Link: https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
14. Scratch
Scratch comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It's a programming tool that is easy to get to grips with and can help you jump to other languages if you want. Using it, you can create stories, games, and animations and then share them with everyone on the website.
Scratch is specifically designed for young people and can help you improve across all school subjects. There's definitely no requirement to create anything with an educational focus, though. In fact, you could just view what other people have made, which includes lots of fun platformer games.
Link: https://scratch.mit.edu/
15. DoSomething
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Photo: charities |
DoSomething is a not-for-profit designed for young people to help them get involved in social change. You can find out about and join its campaigns to make a real, good impact on the world that you are growing up in.
Some of DoSomething's past campaigns include donating over one million pairs of jeans to homeless shelters, cleaning up nearly four million cigarette butts, and helping register 118,706 new voters in a single year. Lead the change that you want to see.
Link: https://www.dosomething.org/us
16. Khan Academy
Khan Academy believes that everyone has the right to free world-class education. We're unbelievably lucky to have so much knowledge available at our fingertips online. Khan Academy has well-designed lessons to help teach you math, science, and more.
There are exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized dashboard to help keep your learning on track. It's not a site specifically for teenagers; adults can use it too. It's simply a great resource to help you learn anything that you want.
Link: https://www.khanacademy.org/
Ways to Stand out for Teenagers1. Take Risks: It’s all about being bold and embracing challenges with strength and a smile. You know that poster that’s probably hanging on your gym teacher’s wall, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”? Well, it’s true. While easy and safe, not taking chances holds us back — especially when it comes to accomplishing our dreams. 2. Do Your Own Thing: There’s a difference between being a follower and a leader, and we much prefer the latter! Rebel from the ordinary, and rock things your own way. Who says you have to wear the latest trends? Make your own. 3. Immerse Yourself in Culture: Any It Girl knows that there’s so much more to learn in life than what’s taught in the classroom. That’s why they’re always present at concerts, ballets, live theater, and more. Attending cultural events and reading non-school books is not only fun, but it gives you a special something — what the French call, “je ne sais quoi.” 4. Break the Rules: Okay, so we’re not talking about doing anything that would land you in jail, but some rules are meant to be broken. As iconic It Girl Katharine Hepburn once said, “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” Break the style status quo, think outside the box, and question things that don’t make sense. 5. Show Off Your Talents: A true It Girl never squirms at the thought of having all eyes on her. In fact, she embraces it, because she knows she has something exceptional to offer. Find your talent, and don’t shy away from sharing it with your fellow classmates. |
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