Dartmouth says no to sex week

 

Many colleges and universities across the U.S. hold a "sex week" each year, which is dedicated to informing students about sexual health matters such as the importance of practicing safer sex and the dangers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that half of all new STI cases that are reported each year are contracted by people under the age of 25, it's important for college-age kids to understand the risk they take when they engage in unprotected sex.

Recently, The Dartmouth reported that the college's sexual health peer advisors, "the Sexperts," don't plan on hosting a sex week. Instead, they have been holding events and sending out newsletters all year that educate students about the importance of practicing safer sex.

The news source reported that one reason why Dartmouth does things this way is to avoid the type of controversy that surrounded Yale's sex week, where a group of students protested the events, claiming that they focused too much on racy content and the hook-up culture.

The information provider spoke to Aida Manduley, co-organizer of Brown’s 2011 sex week, about why she believes holding a week dedicated to sexual health topics is important.

"The advantage of having a comprehensive event like Sex Week is that it brings more awareness to dialogue around sexuality, because a lot of smaller events slip through cracks of campus organizing," said Manduley, quoted by the news source. "At the same time, we think that smaller events throughout entire year are equally important for fostering knowledge."

Regardless of how the information is conveyed, it's important for college students to understand that having unprotected sex, even once, can potentially result in contracting an STI.