On Monday at 8 p.m. the Student Wellness Network (SWN) hosted a panel of experts to talk about a risqué topic: sex. The sexperts joined together in Olscamp room 115 to answer any anonymous questions students had about sex.
“I think students need to be more open about sex. It is not about bragging or anything like that – it’s about harm prevention and being aware of the thing that brought us into this world,” junior Keith Sarver said.
The SWN wanted to get the facts straight since high schools mainly focus on abstinence-based sex education. Both freshmen and returning students were encouraged to attend the talk. SWN Publicity Coordinator Aleah Carey wanted to shed some light on a topic many consider taboo.
“The talk is all about students having no misconceptions about sex and also including members of the LGBTQ community, since some students may come from a school that mainly teaches abstinence,” Carey said.
Monday’s talk outlined what college sex lives could entail and focused on questions from the attendees. The student-based talk dispelled common myths about sex and promoted sexual responsibility. Confidentiality was not a problem. Questions could be written down and then given to the sex experts.
“SWN thought this was needed because we need to make sex less taboo and bring things like STIs out in the open,” Carey said.
According to Ph.D Sandra L. Caron’s study on college students’ sexual behavior, 87 percent of students surveyed report they have or have had sexual intercourse. That means about 5,200 out of a sample size of nearly 6,000 have had sex.
“Freshman and even returning students may be having new sexual experiences – they have the opportunity to be in a safe space and ask anonymous questions,” Carey said.
Caron’s study revealed college students think their peers are having much more sex than they actually are. This gap shows students might see their peers as more promiscuous than what is reality. Students may find themselves comparing their own sex lives to what they think their peers experience.
“I try not to compare my sex life to others experiences, but people can’t help wondering what other people are experiencing when it comes to sex,” freshman Osi Okoro said, “I’m not saying they have more sex than me, but the guys that they do have it (sex) with are probably better all around.”
