Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma is gearing up this week to promote condom use during National Condom Week.
This year"s National Condom Week will begin Saturday and last through Feb. 21.
Terry Dennison, Planned Parenthood director of educational services, said this week is important because condom use is vital.
'National Condom Week presents a terrific opportunity to educate people about the importance of prevention and responsible services.' Dennison said. 'Condom awareness and the promotion of responsible choices and behaviors including abstinence, are all part of our continuing strategy of prevention.'
Dennison has set up a booth with information about condoms in Oklahoma Memorial Union, directly across from University Bookstore. He said he will be there from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. all week. He said people should not be ashamed of coming by and picking up condoms.
'I encourage people to use condoms,' Dennison said. 'Even if they don"t use them, they can pass them on to their friends.'
At Dennison"s booth, there are male and female condoms, lubrication, and information about how to use them, 'Just Wear It' bumper stickers, and a 'guess the number of condoms in the jar' contest. The person whose guess is closest will win the entire jar.
Also at the booth are dental dams. A dental dam is small sheet of latex that can act as a barrier between the vagina, anus or mouth, but is primarily used for oral sex, according to drcondoms.com.
Some OU students agree that more needs to be done about getting the word out about birth control, but their reasons vary.
'It is great, it"s good to get the word out. Personally, I think condom use is lost art, and many people I know don"t use them, but they better start because there are too many STDs,' said John Luce, zoology junior.
Dan Upton, University College sophomore, said condoms were handed out in his high school, and he said he thinks birth control should be handed out in college, too.
'I think it"s very important because I don"t think society does enough about abstinence,' said Upton.
Eric Hofrichter, University College freshman, echoed some sentiments about birth control.
'You better believe it is important because I don"t want to be paying anyone child support,' he said.
Said Ashlie Boothby, University College freshman: 'It is definitely important. There are so many pregnancies in college that it can totally ruin someone"s chances of a future.'
Dennison stressed that condoms can help prevent both pregnancy and STDs.
'Abstinence is 100 percent effective, but when a couple decides to have sexual intercourse, latex condoms used correctly are the only contraceptive method that reduces the risk of STDs,' Dennison said.
'Through our activities during National Condom Week, we hope to show that it"s okay to talk about condoms and that condom use should be the norm rather than the exception,' Dennison said. 'The more comfortable people become, the better equipped they will be to make responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior.'
Planned Parenthood is located at 2100 W. Lindsey St.
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ahazel1002 4 months ago
The funniest thing about this whole article is......I am Ashlie Boothby in the article and not 4 months after this was published, I was pregnant. It didnt ruin my future, I went on to graduate from college and become a teacher.