Catch Knowledge – Greendale's STD Fair

The holiday season is officially upon us!It is time for us all to prepare yet again for time with family and friends, gift giving, and holiday parties.'Tis the season of giving, but there's one gift you don't want to give or receive -- STDs.Thankfully, Greendale held an event this past week that helped the students "catch knowledge" about STDs and their prevention just in time for the holidays.We are lucky to have such a caring and forward-thinking campus.

The Greendale administration spent weeks preparing for the STD Fair, headed by Dean Pelton and extremely active student, Annie Edison.Posters were hung, t-shirts were made, and somewhat disturbing fortune cookies were eaten, all in the spirit of catching knowledge.A sort of mixer/carnival was held in the gymnasium for Greendale students and faculty complete with games like the "Wheel of Remorse" and plenty of alcoholic beverages. Greendale even passed out free personalized condoms to everyone who attended.

As students and staff partook in the festivities, things started getting interesting. Instead of getting tired from the alcohol, as Dean Pelton had expected, the students started getting frisky.Then, event planner Annie and two other students were caught trying to break into the dean's office to see the anatomically correct model of a penis.And worst of all, when people started making water balloons out of the free condoms, they realized that there were holes in them.Apparently the added exclamation point on "Greendale!" had compromised the condoms. What was supposed to be an STD-preventing gift turned into a huge liability!The fair ended with an announcement over the loudspeaker telling all the students not to use condoms.

So instead of preventing STDs, the fair may have actually spread them.And instead of discouraging sex, the fair may have inadvertently encouraged it.We can only hope that knowledge was in fact caught at the event, and nothing else.Hopefully Greendale and other college campuses will learn from the mistakes made at this year's fair and will be able to prevent the same mistakes from being made at future events.Until then, just remember to give gifts, not STDs, this holiday season.

In case you weren't able to attend the Greendale STD fair, I have provided some basic statistics on STDs and pregnancy in addition to some myth and fact busters below, provided by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

• If you have sex without protection on a regular basis, you have an 85% chance of pregnancy within one year.
• While the vast majority of 20-somethings agree that pregnancies should be planned, 7 in 10 pregnancies among single young adults are unplanned.
• More than one-third of all unplanned pregnancies in the U.S. (that's over 1 million) are to single women in their 20s.
• Nearly half (49%) of community college students have been (or have gotten someone) pregnant.
• 61% of community college students who have children after enrolling don't finish their education. This rate is 65% higher than for students who don't have a child.
• Only 2 out of 10 students at two-year institutions say they get information at school about preventing unplanned pregnancy. At four-year colleges, one-third of students do.
• Unplanned pregnancy can increase emotional and financial stress, lead to relationship turmoil, and result in poor health and economic outcomes for babies. About 15% of all community college students are single parents.

MYTH: Saran wrap is a handy condom substitute.
FACT: Actually, there is no condom substitute. A condom makes the best condom.

MYTH: Talking about protection ruins the mood.
FACT: Well, OK it can be awkward -- but it's a lot less awkward than finding out you're pregnant. If condoms just aren't for you, find your perfect birth control method at www.sexreally.com/birth-control-101

To learn the real facts about STD prevention and pregnancy prevention, please visit www.sexreally.com for statistics and information.