By: Blaisem Odle
Posted In: Opinion
One of the main factors in my decision to attend Salve Regina University was the fact that it is a Catholic school. My parents sacrificed a lot to send me to a Catholic grade school and high school, and I thought that I could show them how much I appreciated it by continuing my Catholic education at a Catholic university.
When I read the article on SAFE SEX in December, I was a little more than slightly disappointed: I was incensed.
I would agree that something needs to be done on campus to deal with the issue of increasing STD rates. Where I differ in opinion is how I would go about bringing a solution to this important matter. What I propose is just a little different from that of Tarra Delchiaro and the Student Government staff and their SAFE SEX proposal. Here’s an idea: save sex for marriage. Revolutionary concept, I know, but one that is guaranteed to keep away those nasty diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
Even with protection, pregnancy still occurs and disease still spreads… both of which may occur a lot more than you might think. Condoms are the most generally accepted form of “protection,” but the FDA reports a failure rate of 11% when using a male condom, and 21% when using a female condom.
One could go so far to say that over one in ten couples using a male condom, and over one in five using a female condom will get pregnant. Despite the alarmingly high failure rate resulting in pregnancy, condoms protect even less against sexually transmitted diseases. According to the University of Texas, the average condom failure rate in AIDS prevention was 31%.
Dr. Harold Jaffee of the National Centers for Disease Control comments, “simply put, condoms fail. And condoms fail at a rate unacceptable for me as a physician to endorse them as a strategy to be promoted as meaningful [STD] protection.”
I realize that it is difficult to remain chaste in this day and age. Sex is all over the televised and commercial world, and since “everyone’s doing it,” we tend to think that it must be okay.
The truth is though, is that not everyone is doing it, and even if they were, that does not make it right. Even if you don’t care about the moral concerns, wouldn’t you care about the health risks? The chance of pregnancy?
Life becomes much more complicated when sex is involved. As college students, I am sure we have other problems to deal with… like that Biology test at 3 o’clock, or the Calculus homework you forgot to do. Personally, I would rather stick to worrying about when I am going to get my homework done than if I have contracted a serious disease or have a baby on the way.
In order to show that there are other things that you and your significant other can do on a Friday night and still have fun, I have compiled a list:
1.) If you are really looking for action, go bowling. (you can score up to 300 times in about an hour)
2.) If you absolutely insist on taking your clothes off… how about swimming?
3.) If you feel the desire to have fun in the backseat of a car, grab a bunch of friends, hire a limo and cruise around town.
I’m pretty sure that if you brainstorm you can come up with even more things to do in Newport. My list is by no means exhaustive.
Eventually guys, most of us are going to want to settle down and start a family, and when that time comes, the people that haven’t been around the block four times are going to be appreciated and in high demand. On the night of your honeymoon, would you rather tell your spouse:
a.) “Yeah, well, been there, done that.” Or b.) “I love you so much that I saved myself completely for you.”
For some reason, I think the latter would be much more likely to impress the love of your life.
While writing this article, a good guy friend of mine told me that it is much harder for guys to remain abstinent. Well, if that is an effective argument, it is much harder for girls than guys to do 100 pushups… but it still can, and does, happen.
Seriously though, I know that for both males and females remaining or becoming abstinent can be difficult. But that is why you have to stick to your guns (or keep them in the holster).
