Two groups vie to teach sexual health at Yale

 

In the past few years there has been a great deal of debate regarding the best way to encourage young people to practice safer sex. College campuses are places where sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are relatively common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are 19 million new STD cases each year, and almost half of them are diagnosed in 15- to 24-year-olds.

In response to this, many colleges have started sexual health awareness weeks, during which the campus offers information regarding STD prevention and contraceptive use. For example, Yale University holds Sex Week each year, with more than 50 workshops on a variety of sexual topics. This event has often been shrouded in controversy, with some believing that the school discusses sex too casually.

MSNBC recently reported that this year, Sex Week will have some competition, as a student group called Undergraduates for a Better Yale College will be simultaneously sponsoring True Love Week, which will focus on fidelity and love, rather than sex.

"We’re definitely smaller," junior Eduardo Andino, co-founder of the Better Yale group, told MSNBC. "We don’t really need, I think, all that many events to get our point across. We want to treat sex with a little more respect."

Andino and his co-founders believe that some of the seminars at Sex Week promote the "hook up" culture and don't discuss the importance of having a meaningful relationship. The news source cited one workshop that will feature a former adult film star.

However, Connie Cho, co-director of Sex Week, told the news provider that the events are simply meant to inform students about sexual health matters, not promote promiscuity.

"We’re giving students the opportunity to talk with someone who’s been in pornography to understand what the industry is like," said Cho, quoted by MSNBC. "It’s really about intellectual rigor, about investigating a subject."

Regardless of which organization has the right idea, the important thing to take away from this is that students at Yale will have multiple opportunities to learn about sexual health, which will hopefully lead to them making smart sexual choices.