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Party Rule #1: Bring a Condom

Amanda Thornton
Professor Iovannone
WGST 201:01
December 3rd, 2013

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Sex is a huge part of human existence. Most sexual experiences start toward the end of
high school and in college, although lately there has been more and more sexual activity with
younger children. To have sex is an instinct we have in order to reproduce. Nowadays, most
people have sex for pleasure and not in order to produce a child. This brings up a very important
issue that is arriving on college campuses. College students engage in casual sex, under-aged
drinking, and risky behavior. When college students drink, their senses are impaired and they
will make choices that they usually would not make sober. Going to parties and going out to
drink is very popular on all college campuses including SUNY Fredonia. The students are more
at risk of STDs and unwanted pregnancy if they are not prepared to be safe. The use of condoms
and birth control are crucial for all college students to have knowledge about. The media, peer
influence and sex education are the three major attributes that hinder students to make the right
choices for themselves. I have found there is an issue with the knowledge about safe sex and how
to properly protect yourself and of students believing in sex myths that they have heard.
I think it is imperative for everyone to be well informed when it comes to sexual health.
They should be an expert on their body and know what can harm and what will protect them. I
think that teen pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy is an epidemic happening around us right
now. Young girls think they have a very slim chance of getting pregnant, or they believe the
myths that they have heard about sex or pregnancy. The women/ teenagers that practice these
risky acts, are at high risk for STDs and pregnancy. In my high school and here at Fredonia
State, I have heard many people have the incorrect information about sex and their reproductive
health. They think the things they hear amongst their friends are true, but it could be incorrect
information that could harm their health. I have also heard of people say that there are safe
periods to have sex, or they could never get STDs from oral sex. When people have the wrong

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facts, I get concerned for their health and the impact their poor choices will have on their life. I
find this an extremely interesting topic to study and to educate people on. Sex is something
taboo to a lot of people, even though its one of the most basic needs of humans. This drives
me to want to research it more and to allow people to feel comfortable with talking about it.

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College is a time for growing up, moving on your own and experiencing new things.
With this new found freedom comes much more responsibility for yourself. Other than doing
laundry and getting your homework done on time, you also have to be take care of your health
and wellness. This includes protecting yourself from STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Coming
into school, many freshman do not come equipped with the right knowledge or tools to have safe
sexual experiences. One thing that seems to be always left off of the Ultimate Dorm Checklist
are condoms, and this is something that parents dont always talk about with their children. The
driving force behind unprotected sex is lack of education.
Typical college students in various studies are considered to be ages 18-24. Of these
students 86% reported having had intercourse in their lifetime, and 68% are currently sexually
active.(Trieu) More than half of college students are sexually active and susceptible to STDs and
unintended pregnancy. An estimated 900,000 teenagers get pregnant each year in the US alone.
(Scholly) If we divide 900,000 girls between the 50 states, it would be 18,000 teenage girls in
each state. This is an epidemic in the US. Sexual health issues are the most serious health
concern that young adults have.(Scholly) College students are usually in very good shape with
little health problems, so they are blind to all of the harm they are doing to their body. Binge
drinking, unprotected sex, multiple partners, and a carefree attitude are just a few things that can
hurt their health. It is the mixture of behavioral, biological, and cultural factors that put young
adults at higher risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease. (Trieu) The peer group that they
have can largely influence their thoughts on drinking, sex and school work. The environment of
their campus and their home life can also influence such things.
Alcohol is illegal to consume or buy if you are under the age of 21 in the United States,
although many college students under the age of 21 do engage in drinking. This is a serious

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topic that many schools have tried to limit the and offer education about drinking even before
they enter into college. Alcohol can alter your state of mind and lower your inhibitions. With that
being said, alcohol consumption is associated with high levels of sexual risk taking. (DowningMatibag) Once someone has become intoxicated, they will do things that they usually would not
do sober; unfortunately this sometimes means unprotected sex with different partners. Students
have suggested that if they had been sober, the sexual activity would not have progressed as far,
or might not have happened at all. (Downing-Matibag) Their conception of what is right and
what is wrong is skewed, therefore their choices are altered. Alcohol use often diminishes
rational decision making, thereby increasing the incidence of unprotected sex. (Scholly) Many
college students talk about getting blacked out. According to the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism, a black out is defined by large amounts of alcohol, particularly if
consumed rapidly, can produce periods of memory loss for events that happened while a person
was drinking. Blackouts are much more common among social drinkers-including college
drinkers and have been found to involve events ranging from conversations to intercourse.
(White) When someone is blacked out, they are conscious at the time, but do not remember the
events of the night the next morning. This can lead to issues of increased risk of STDs,
unintended pregnancy, sexual assault and multiple partners if they are not sure if they had sex or
not. (Scholly) This can be detrimental to the person because they might not remember what
happened or who things happened with. College students excessive alcohol use and risky sexual
behavior may be the result of their campus environment supporting such behavior. (Scholly) If
the students participate in these activities and they school does not take a stand against it, many
students will feel that it is acceptable for them to do so.

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Another popular activity among college students is hooking up. Hooking up occurs in
situations in which contraception against sexually transmitted diseases are not available or in
which students judgments are impaired, and risky behaviors can occur. (Downing-Matibag) This
might happen at a party, a get together, or in a bar. The key of hooking up is that it is not always
preplanned, so the participators do not have the right protection with them. When there is a party,
many times it is at a house that has other rooms for privacy, or the couple that wants to hook up
can go back to their dorm room. Hooking up can be sexual assault, because under the influence
of alcohol it is impossible for someone to consent with a clouded mindset. Another form of
hooking up is casual sexual contact, usually sober. Students have casual sexual relationships to
save time and money.( Downing-Matibag) They are either not ready for commitment for another
person, or do not want to spend their time on a relationship. A relationship will take up time and
also effort from both parties, and when they do not want to do so, they can have a hooking-up
relationship, commonly called friends with benefits.
STDs, short for sexually transmitted diseases, are caused by infections that are passed
from one person to another during sexual contact. (Planned Parenthood) STDs are also called
STIs (sexually transmitted infections) because they all start as infections and only some become
diseases. These terms are used interchangeably in studies and in spoken word. 15 to 24 year olds
acquire nearly half of all the new STDs. (Trieu) These ages are usually beginners to the game of
sex and do not have the correct education about the topic and engage in more risky behaviors.
STDs can be contracted from oral and vaginal sex. This is something that is not widely known.
Only 6.3% of those engaging in oral sex reported using a condom, despite well-documented
studies of the transmission of common STDs though oral sex.(Trieu) Students are unaware of
the dangers of STD contraction if they have never had a positive test result. In another study, of

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the 71 students interviewed, not one reported that they had ever used protective barriers against
STIs when giving or receiving oral intercourse. (Downing-Matibag) Only about 50% of students
were concerned about contracting an STI during sexual intercourse. (Downing-Matibag) The
interview group for this study was all college students. The fact that college students are mostly
not worried about STDs means that they are probably not getting tested regularly for them. This
can increase the amount of STD carriers and therefore increase the prevalence of STDs in an
area. For the students to take protective measures, they must believe that the consequences of
that illness would be severe. (Downing-Matibag) Some students are required to be tested for
STDs to get on birth control or have an annual gynecologic exam. Many college women are
screened annually for a variety of STIs, however routine STI testing is much less common
among college men. (Scholly) Men are not required an STD test when getting a physical or
other doctor visits and are solely responsible for getting themselves tested.
To protect against STDs, there are different types of protection you can use. The most
common is the condom. Condom use is considered one of the most effective ways to reduce the
risk of STD and HIV infection. (Trieu) Condoms are sold at all drug stores and most grocery
stores. They are easily accessible and cost fewer than ten dollars. Also, most colleges offer a
service of free condom distribution to students. The most common type of condom is the male
condom that is placed over the penis before sexual interactions. There also is a female condom
that is a pouch inserted into the vagina to prevent pregnancy and STIs. (Planned Parenthood)
Both types of condoms protect against STDs and pregnancy. It is an individual choice of what
condom is best. Self efficacy refers to the degree to which individuals believe that they are
capable of implementing preventative behaviors.(Dowing-Matibag) This efficacy applies to

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condom use and to contraceptive methods. Although, if someone says that are very capable of
using condoms or contraceptives, it does not mean that they are constantly using them.
To protect against pregnancy alone, there are contraception options for women; birth
control pills, shots, and patches are just a few choices. Although 89% of fertile, sexually active
women in the US practice some sort of contraception, nearly half of all pregnancies in the US are
unintended. (Trieu) The birth control options are not 100% effective, especially if you do not
follow the dosing instructions. By combining birth control and another contraceptive, it lowers
the risk of pregnancy and provides you with the most protection other than abstinence.
Sex education is an important tool when it comes to protecting ones self from STDs,
unwanted pregnancy, and risky sexual behavior. A research study called F.O.R.E Play, researched
what way was the best to teach college students about sex. Sex education is more prevalent in
high school, but can be taught in a college level. This study found that having an instructor guide
the learning process has more impact than independent research on the web. (Moore) For a
professor to be talking and interacting with the students made them retain more information.
Some of the students had a lack of information in certain aspects of sex education because of
personal experiences. (Moore) For example, when a student is only engaging in oral sex, they
might not know everything about vaginal sex.
On the SUNY Fredonia campus, there are lots of organizations and clubs to keep you
well informed about sex, drinking and STDs. The first club is STEPS, which stands for students
teaching equals positive sexuality. This is a theateratrical group that puts on different skits about
college situations like partying, date rape, safe sex, and STDs. They also do presentations in the
dorms to educate students on these topics. The next organization is FredASSIST. FredASSIST is
a peer run group that provides sexual health services through clinics at the health center. They

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also have free condoms to any student. In their office at Lograsso Hall, they sell pregnancy tests
and non-latex condoms. In the clinics, students can be tested for STDs, receive emergency
contraception, get a prescription for birth control pills or have a general infection check for a
very low cost. Clinics are kept confidential between the patient, members and nurses. The third
service on campus is the CEASE program, which stands for campus, education, awareness,
support and effect. (SUNY Fredonia) This program is run by a counselor on campus and
provides information about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and relationship issues. In the
Fredonia surrounding community, there is a Chautauqua County Health Department located in
Dunkirk. They offer immunizations, reproductive health services (ex. birth control methods,
pregnancy testing, emergency contraception) and STD/HIV testing. This is a low cost way of
getting these services.
College students are exposed to many risky behaviors. For example, binge drinking,
unprotected sex, casual sex, multiple partners, and freedom from authority. These behaviors can
lead to contraction of STDs and unintended pregnancy. This can impact a person for the rest of
their life. Most students do not have adequate education about their sexual health and therefore
put themselves at risk unintentionally. Extending sex education to college students could lower
the statistics for STDs and teen pregnancy. Students that use the aforementioned services will be
more informed about their sexual health. The biggest health concern for college students is their
sexual health, so why not have campuses cater to what is most prevalent.

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Action Plan:
After researching sex education in colleges and learning about the studies of how much
college students know about sex already, I have realized its an area that we need to focus more
in. It was prevalent in the research that college students did not know how susceptible they were
to getting STDs or how to protect themselves correctly from them. They also were participating
in very risky behaviors that could end up hurting them. I have devised an action plan to educate
college students on safe sex and to provide them with all of the facts that I can. In my plan, I am
going to team up with FredASSIST because I will be able to use their supplies and so that their
services will be advertised. This plan has 3 parts in order to cover a larger demographic of
college students.
My first step of my action plan is to hand out packets on move-in day to students that live
on campus. The suites, freshman dorms, corridor style upperclassmen dorms and the new
townhouses will each get packets to hand out to their residents. When the students check in to
their building they will be handed this package along with their other information.
These packets will contain 2 male condoms, 1 packet of lube, and an informational card. I
will obtain all of these supplies from the FredASSIST supply closet. The front of the information
card will include FredASSISTs location and phone number, along with services that we provide.
The back of the card will have safe sex facts and how to use the condom properly. I have
attached in the back of my report an example of the information card. I plan on putting the
condoms, lube and informational card in a snack size zippered plastic bag. The only other option
for the packaging would be to order these packages already made up in plastic wrap that the
students would tear open. The issue with this would be the cost of the packages.

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There are a couple of problems that I have thought about while thinking of this first step
of my action plan. The first problem that I ran tinto was the fact that not all parents would agree
with their child being given condoms or the student would feel very uncomfortable with
receiving this around their parents. The solution I came up with for this was that since freshman
would probably be the most embarrassed/worried about the condom packets, they could be
handed it out during the first week of classes by their RA(resident assistant). This allows the RA
to introduce themselves while meeting their residents and allow the residents to receive the
information in order to be sexually safe. This way, the residents are less likely to be worried
about having the condoms and more apt to read and use them.
The second issue was for the students that are allergic to latex. For these residents we
could put together non-latex packages. On the information card, it would include the fact that
FredASSIST sells these non-latex condoms at their office for 2 for $1. Even though FredASSIST
would be losing money for the non-latex condoms being handed out for free, the hope would be
for the residents to come to the office and buy more of these condoms.
The final problem of these condom information packages would be it does not cover
lesbian and some trans* students. We cannot cater to everyone but on the info card we could say
they could obtain free female condoms outside of the FredASSIST office. My thinking is that
since male condoms cover heterosexual, homosexual males and the bisexual community, that
giving out male condoms will cover a majority of residents. The students that will not use the
male condoms will hopefully give them to a friend that could use them.
The second step of my action plan is to have FredASSIST members go into the dorms
during the first month of school. The group would contact RAs or RDs(resident director) of
each dorm and set up a program with either a specific RA or with the entire dorm. If a program is

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offered to the entire dorm it would have to be offered a couple of times in the evening, so that
more students would attend. These programs would introduce what FredASSIST is and what
services they offer. Everyone in attendance will get a small business card with FredASSISTs
contact information on it. The program would then proceed to a factual based presentation via
PowerPoint or just lecturing. The other alternative to this would be a poster with most of the
information that is talked about written on it. The conversation would include safe sex, STDs,
LGBTQ community awareness and focus on safe sex for these individuals, and finally statistics
of different sex related topics. The program could then go into a question and answer session. If
this doesnt work to get the students involved, the team presenting could start a game of true or
false sex facts. The prize for the winning team could be condoms or small prizes related to
FredASSIST.
This program would have to be somewhat regulated and planned out so that it could be
used for each resident hall. FredASSIST would have a binder that would have the program
outline and a section of sex facts. It would be easiest for the members to learn one program each
semester. The next semester they could switch up the facts and change the program to be laid out
differently if they present to the residence halls again. The fall could focus on safe sex, STDs
and safe partying. The spring semester could focus on hooking up, safe sex, and rape. I think that
rape is another big issue that comes with sex in college. Students should be able to know what
rape is and to protect themselves from being sexually assaulted. The issue with broadening
FredASSISTs programing and information is that the members would be have to be more
thoroughly trained about all of the topics in order to cover them clearly and accurately.
The final piece to my activism plan involves reaching out to the entire campus. This
would cover commuting students as well as the resident students. I would make up flyers to put

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up in certain places around campus, probably about 12 different spots between all the academic
buildings and outside bulletin boards. These flyers would include a commonly believed myth
about sex and the fact that corrects it.
These facts and myths could be found on plannedparenthood.org, sexed101.org, and
sexetc.org. I personally really like how sexetc.org is laid out and it provides students and
organizations with clear information. This website has tabs for a blog, games, clinic finders, and
a magazine. It seems to be written by older teens about 17-20. This would be a great website to
advertise to the campus or for the members to get information. They have information on
pregnancy, STDs, relationships, LGBTQ community, your body, abuse & violence, and birth
control. There is a tab to click for FAQ, which could be used for the flyers also. The flyers could
be one question and the answer underneath.
These flyers would be changed about every month. I think that during one month in the
fall semester and one in the spring, FredASSIST could do an activism month were the flyers
change every week and we could have members at tables in McEwen once a week to promote
the group and sexual health. The members would give out free condoms along with different
brochures and information packets. They could also promote the groups weekly clinics. This
would help the knowledge of students along with promoting FredASSIST.
My action plan is something that evolved while I researched this subject. Before my
research, I had never thought about how alcohol and partying can impact a college students
sexual health. This topic is so broad, but I think that college students most pressing issues are
STDs and unintended pregnancy. I think that between the posters, condom packages, and dorm
presentations, we could reach out to a majority of students and be able to at least make a small
difference on this campus.

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Work Cited
Moore, Erin W, William E Smith, and Ashlee R B Folsom. "F.O.R.E.Play: The Utility Of Brief
Sexual Health Interventions Among College Students." Journal Of American College
Health: J Of ACH 60.2 (2012): 175-177. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Planned Parenthood Info for Teens. Planned Parenthood Frederation of America Inc. 2013.
Web. 10 Dec 2013.
Scholly, Kristen, et al. "Factors Associated With Adverse Sexual Outcomes Among College
Students." American Journal Of Health Studies 25.4 (2010): 176-185. SPORTDiscus with
Full Text. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Sex, Etc. Rutgers University -Answer, Web. 11 Dec 2013
SUNY Fredonia Prevention Services. State University of New York at Fredonia. 07 Mar 2013.
Web. 12 Dec 2013.
Trieu, Sang Leng, Sally Bratton, and Helen Hopp Marshak. "Sexual And Reproductive Health
Behaviors Of California Community College Students." Journal Of American College
Health: J Of ACH 59.8 (2011): 744-750. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
White, Aaron M. What Happened? Alcohol, Memory Blackouts, and the Brain. National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. n.p. July 2004. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.