While on a quest to obtain birth control, Shelby Brown texted her mother to figure out what their insurance policy would cover.

The University College freshman said her plight to practice safe sex started with that text message, not her sexual education class in high school.

“I told my mom I wanted her to set up a doctor’s appointment so I can get on birth control,” Brown said. “She didn’t text back, and I think she was getting over the shock. Then she told me I should go through Goddard.”

Brown acknowledged her Oklahoma high school sexual education class, which taught abstinence as the best option and down played other birth control methods, hasn’t helped her in the real world.

Brown’s lack of formal education on contraception is similar to many Oklahoma residents, and research supports just how important sexual education is.

A recent study found that though college students of all ages are engaging in roughly the same amount of sexual activity, high school sexual health education classes play a role in how college students handle protection.

The study, which was conducted by Texas Southern University graduate student Debra A. Lewis, compared how abstinence-only and abstinence-plus sexual education effected college students’ sex lives. The study found that 35.4 percent of the 164 participants perceived themselves as being sexually active, and regardless of what type of sexual education they received, 20.1 percent did not use condoms consistently. The study also found that students who received comprehensive sex education were more knowledgeable regarding sexually transmitted diseases than those who received abstinence-only education.

For students at OU who attended Oklahoma public schools, this may be bad news. Oklahoma currently has no laws requiring sexual education, but does require schools that teach sexual education to stress abstinence, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.

In fact, all sexual education classes must state one of their primary purposes as “the teaching of or informing students about the practice for abstinence.”

The teaching of abstinence often has college students left in the dark when it comes to different forms of contraception, said Lauran Larson, Women’s Outreach Center sexpert.

As part of OU’s Sexperts, Larson, psychology and sociology senior, hosts presentations to a variety of campus organizations. The main purpose of Sexperts is to educate students about safer sex, but Larson said the panel is a safe place for students to have their questions answered.

“Sometimes, people seem really clueless, and sometimes they’ll say ‘I never knew that,’” Larson said. “I think it’s pretty basic stuff that everyone with sexual education should know, but then again I’m trained in that.”

Because so many students are blind to the variety of protection available, Larson can’t help but think the worst.

“If they don’t know the information, and they’re having sex, they must not be using protection,” Larson said. “If they are, they must not be using it properly.”

Larson said she thinks a lack of proper sexual education in high school is to blame for some college students’ naivete.

“It’s sex. Everyone is involved in sex in some point of their lives,” Larson said. “They’re going to need to know this stuff.”

While many may share Larson’s view, many Christian students, like Adebola Ibidapo feel that abstinence is another way to strengthen their relationship with God and protect their hearts at the same time.

“A lot of people think Christians are lame or God doesn’t want them to have sex, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Ibidapo said. “God created sex, and He wants us to have it —just read Genesis. I kind of think of it this way, if I have an iPad ... am I going to ask Steve Jobs for help or ask some 7th grade kid who got one for Christmas? I think the creator of sex knows better than we do, so when He says ‘flee from sexual immortality [sic],’ I believe it, and I obey.”

Though Ibidapo’s faith is one reason she abstains, she said she feels that she would make this decision regardless.

“Society says sex is just physical or sex in a ‘committed relationship’ is OK, but what is more committed than marriage?’ Ibidapo asked. “Even if I put my faith aside, I can just see that the results of this prove otherwise. As humans, we weren’t meant to function like that.”

Though the abstinence-only programs throughout Oklahoma may have increased the number of students remaining abstinent, Larson believes that students should know about safe sex regardless of their sexual activity in order to help those who may be sexually active make the safe decisions.

“It’s important they know about safe sex, whether they’re having sex or not,” Larson said. “At some point, someone is going to need advice, and they’re going to come to you. It’s unfair to keep this information from other people.”

BY THE NUMBERS

High school students and sex

43 Percent of sexually active high school students who reported not using a condom

51 Percent of high school students who reported they have ever had sex

Source: Centers for Disease Control

AT A GLANCE

Sexual health resources

• The Women’s Outreach Center (Oklahoma Memorial Union, Room 247) — resources, awareness programs, access to contraceptives and the Sexperts educational program.

• Goddard Health Services (620 Elm Ave.) — STD testing, access to birth control options, pregnancy testing and support, and men’s and women’s sexual health care.

• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends (Union’s ConocoPhillips Wing, Room 284) — access to contraceptives and a resource library with sexual health information for all students.

• Planned Parenthood (2100 W. Lindsey St.) — STD testing and treatment, access to birth control options, pregnancy testing and support, men’s and women’s sexual health care.