As teenagers, the eight p.m. drive to the local 7/11 to buy trojans was nothing but a thrill. Pretending to be ashamed of the purchase as the cashier scanned the seven dollar box, all while actually hoping they would assume that something was about to go down.
Then college hookup culture comes around and all the terrifying STI videos you watched in your sex-ed classes are easily forgotten once vodka gets involved.
So are condoms a forgotten art or do students make sure that their bedside table is stocked up with rubbers?
The Orion asked students on campus how safe they have been in terms of this specific contraceptive device since they have been in college.
“I use condoms all the time because I’m scared of the consequences, but I know a lot of my friends get drunk and totally forget to use them and never really worry about it,” says senior, Caitlyn Benoit. “I think they just assume nothing would happen since it was just a hookup.”
This is a trend seen in college hookup culture in recent years.
According to research done by the National Library of Medicine, heavy drinking and lack of use of condoms are heavily correlated. The research basically sums up that binge drinking leads to lack of condom use.
This shouldn’t come to a surprise to many people. I mean, who wants to take the time to put a condom on when you’re wasted?
Drinking obviously hinders judgment, but the problem is beyond drinking and forgetting what protection is. The issue is that our generation is slaves to instant gratification. Condoms take away from the optimal pleasure that sex brings which is an excuse that both males and females use. Not to mention that getting the rubbers may take a few minutes away from whatever foreplay may be going on.
“I just figure that she’s on birth control honestly, I guess STIs don’t really come to mind in the heat of the moment, especially when I have a girlfriend,” says senior Jacob Andreasson.
It’s no surprise that college kids think that they’re invincible. It’s the fact that condoms have an ‘uncool’ reputation for a majority of students. The thing is it’s capricious, yet extremely common.
The health center has been pushing them onto students since freshman year, yet they give out Azithromycin, the antibiotic for chlamydia, like candy.
College campuses shouldn’t have to campaign to make condoms cool again.
Nicole Henson can be reached at [email protected] or @nicohenson on Twitter.
