Katelyn Peterson, Staff Writer-
Students from Southern gathered together in a small, brightly-lit room and took their seats with colorful Bingo sheets and bedazzled sticker chips placed on tables in front of them.
Each slot on a Bingo sheet contained different phrases and answers to questions that coincided with the theme of sexual responsibility. The object of the game was to try and match the answers on the sheet with the questions that were written on each of the 30 different question cards.
The event, called “Sexual Responsibility Bingo,” was an attempt to educate students on the importance of practicing safe sex. It took place Tuesday, Feb. 8 in Room 303 of the Student Center and was hosted by members of H.O.P.E., a group of students who work together to educate their peers on issues like diversity, eating disorders, sexual assault and sexual responsibility.
“We think that a lot of people on campus are having sex but they don’t necessarily know how to be perfectly responsible with it,” said Brianne Kane, a freshman at Southern and one of the members who helped organize the Bingo event. “We wanted to make sure that people were educated about their sexuality and sexual health.”
Throughout the night, students were able to interact and converse with one another and with the members of H.O.P.E. They were also given opportunities to volunteer their own answers or creative key phrases that were not placed on the Bingo sheets.
Danae Cuffy, a sophomore at Southern who attended the Bingo event, said she felt the game was a productive and interesting way of helping students become more aware of the consequences that come from not being sexually responsible.
“You had that entertainment aspect of it,” said Cuffy. “So you would actually remember it better that way instead of just going in, sitting down, and listening to someone talk.”
There were other issues that were approached during the game, such as different types of contraceptives, risks women have for getting pregnant and commonly contracted STDs.
According to information listed on the website for the National Cervical Cancer Public Education Campaign, one of the most common STDs among men and women in their late teens and early 20s is HPV. The website said at least 70 percent of sexually active people will contract HPV during some point in their lives.
The results from a safe sex survey, sponsored by the BACCHUS Network’s official sexual health website, showed that although 89 percent of male and female participants agreed that people should get tested before entering a committed relationship, 62 percent said they believed they could tell if their partner had an STD by just looking.
According to information from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, nearly two-thirds of all STDs occur in people under the age of 25.
“It’s a lot higher number than students think it is,” said Moira Duffy, a graduate intern at the Wellness Center. “When I present that information, about how many Americans contract an STD, they’re shocked.”
