Residence halls promote safe sex, proper birth control methods

Students gathered in First Year Residence Hall South for a condom party promoting safe sex and proper condom usage Monday evening.

“We want to teach people how to use condoms the right way in a fun way,” said Alicia Baker, graduate assistant for student health education programs at Marshall University.

About 40 people attended the event.

During the program, Baker said condoms should only be used once, and that expired condoms should never be used because they are not effective.

Baker performed demonstrations on bananas to illustrate the correct way to apply a condom.

Volunteers competed in a water balloon contest and balloon-blowing contest using condoms for prizes.

Jaclyn Johnson, freshman elementary education major from Teays Valley, W.Va., said the program was very entertaining but students should still take the topic seriously.

“It’s important for students to know safe ways to have sex and protect themselves just so that nothing happens to them while they are here,” said Tracey Eggleston, residence life specialist.

Eggleston said she thinks students took the program to heart.

“When they’re in large groups they may act like they’re not taking it seriously, but then when they go back and are by themselves they will think about what they were taught,” Eggleston said.  

Attendees received free condoms, a pamphlet explaining how to properly use condoms, and a handout providing information on the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.

The event was part of a nationally recognized Sexual Responsibility Week sponsored by the American College Health Association from Feb. 8 to Feb. 12, Baker said.

“We do a lot of awareness weeks on campus,” Baker said. “We do a lot of awareness about alcohol and drugs, so why not safe sex? It’s kind of an undercover topic around here.”

Baker said she hopes this week helps get the word out about sexual health around campus.

“I’m hoping more people are more comfortable talking about their sexuality if they choose to have sex,” Baker said. “Abstinence is okay. We don’t emphasize that with sexual responsibility week, but abstinence is okay. Mainly, it’s just getting out the idea that if you’re going to have sex, know exactly how to do it, what’s going to happen and how to do it safely.”

Kelsey Thomas can be contacted at thomas336@marshall.edu.
 

1 comments

Anonymous

Sun Feb 14 2010 09:39

The only "safe sex" that exists is within the marriage bond that God created for a man and a woman to express their love for one another. Abstinence should be emphasized in order for the students to get the education that hopefully was the reason they enrolled in college. Our country is falling and failing due to a lack of morals and respect for God in whom our forefathers founded our country.

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out