–shamilton10@my.apsu.edu
Dedicated to the task of promoting safe and consensual sex, the annual Condom Day, an event sponsored by the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance with contributions from the Gay-Straight Alliance and Sociology Club, among other organizations, was held in the UC Tuesday, April 23. The informal awareness day included a variety of activities, ranging from games such as “What’s in the Hot Box?” in which students were asked to reach into a box and withdraw an item to “Pick Your Partner,” a game where students picked a card with an image on one side, then flipped it over to reveal their sexual fate on the reverse.
In addition to handing out free condoms and sweets, the booths included pamphlets covering various topics, such as “Nine Sexually Responsible Behaviors,” “STD Facts” and “Thinking About Contraception.” Students were rewarded with a condom balloon in exchange for pledging a donation to the organizations.
About the importance of safe sex, family planning site Plannedparenthood.org said, “There are many kinds of sexually transmitted diseases and infections. And they are very common — more than half of all of us will get one at some time in our lives.”
The American Sexual Health Association also advises the public to practice safe sex. “Estimating how many sexually transmitted disease or infection cases occur is not a simple or straightforward task,” ASHA said in an official release. “First, most STDs/STIs can be ‘silent,’ causing no noticeable symptoms. These asymptomatic infections can be diagnosed only through testing. Unfortunately, routine screening programs are not widespread, and social stigma and lack of public awareness concerning STDs/STIs often inhibits frank discussion between health care providers and patients about STD/STI risk and the need for testing.”
The purpose of Condom Day is to promote sexual health among college students, keeping the subject of safe sex from being swept under the rug.
Students interested in being tested for STDs can visit Health Services or the Montgomery County Health Department.
