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| Promoting
Sexual Responsibility in the Residence Halls By Lindsay Conrad,
Resident Assistant, Ball State University There are
a number of fun, easy, and interesting ways to promote sexual health and
responsibility in the residence halls. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 65 million people in the United
States are infected with an incurable STD. Young adults are particularly
at risk for STDs and unintended pregnancy because they often have multiple
partners and have received little, if any, education on sexual health
and responsibility. Many young adults are unaware of resources for prevention
information, treatment options, and safer sex supplies. Most lack skills
needed for effective partner communication. Many of our residents are
interested in gaining knowledge about responsible sexual behavior but
are not sure how to go about gaining this knowledge. As a Resident
Assistant how can you go about educating your residents about sexuality
and safe sex? I’ve listed a number of traditional and passive programming
ideas as well as resources for information. Active
Programming ideas Informal
Q & A: The most
successful program I’ve had involved inviting a health educator to
just sit and informally answer questions about sexual health. The Q &
A lasted nearly three hours and I’ve had requests to do it again
this year. I advertised for the event by hanging up flyers all over my
hall. The flyers had questions such as “What do I do if I miss a
pill” and “How soon is too soon to get a pregnancy test.”
I collected questions from the women on my floor and gave them to the
health educator about 3 weeks before the program. I waited to do the program
until I felt my floor would be comfortable discussing sexual health around
each other. Sex-Tac-Toe: Sex-Tac-Toe
is a fun program that tends to get people laughing. What you need are
myths and facts about sexual health (including abstinence), terminology,
condoms, something to practice putting condoms on with, and a large board
that you can write on or attach Xs and Os to. This program works best
with a larger number of people. Divide everyone into two groups (X and
O) and let each group select a spokesperson to answer the questions. The
program itself is simple, ask the first group a question such as “name
the STD which causes cervical cancer.” If the group gets the question
right (the answer is HPV or genital warts) they get the square. If the
group answers wrong, the other group gets to answer that question and
the next question, assuming they get the first one right. One of the questions
should ask how to put on a latex condom and one volunteer for that group
needs to describe and show how to do this. Sexual
Jeopardy: Sexual Jeopardy
is another interactive game. Make a large game board with title headings
such as “STDS, Birth Control, Abstinence, Sexual Assault, Sex and
Alcohol, and Communication.” Have these headings over small slots
and stuff the slots with an information card that has a question on the
front and an answer on the back. It would be a good idea to team up with
another RA for this program. One RA can read the question, and the other
RA can elaborate on the answer. Condom
Bingo: Condom Bingo
is another great program. Find a place that is willing to donate large
quantities of condoms, which will be used as bingo chips. Have each person
fill out a bingo sheet with terms that you have listed on a large sheet
of paper. Have each bingo square correspond with a particular definition.
Each person has to figure out which terms the definitions go to and place
a condom on that term. The terms and definitions should be specific, some
examples could include masturbation, Herpes, rape, Roofies, female condoms,
dental dams, rimming, fellatio, morning after pill, Depo-Provera, sex
toys, etc. You can decide if a person must fill up the whole sheet or
just a section. Passive
Programming Ideas: There are
a number of ways to passively educate your floor about sexual responsibility.
Door hangers and bulletin boards work well. My floor’s bathroom stalls
have refillable slots for pamphlets and flyers on sexual health. You could
also laminate materials and hang them in shower stalls. I keep condoms,
spermicides, and lubes in the study lounge and bathrooms and have large
fact sheets on STDs and birth control hanging up around my floor. Where
to go for more information: If you would
like to find out more information on sexual responsibility I would recommend
visiting your school’s health education division and departments
of Health Science, Public Health, Medicine, or Nursing. You should also
contact your nearest Department of Public Health and Title X-funded family
planning clinic for safer sex supplies and information. Local health educators
and health education students can be a big help. Local novelty shops will
often donate prizes for the interactive games. Here
is a listing of web sites that you might find useful:
About the Author Lindsay is a senior with majors in Anthropology and Health Science at Ball State University. She is a second year resident assistant. She is very passionate about promoting responsible sexual behavior, especially STD and unintended pregnancy prevention. After graduation Lindsay plans to work as a family planning health educator. |
