Reflection on Contraception at UGA

In one of our classes, Katy Janousek from the University Health Center came to talk to us about contraception methods.  As college students, sex and contraception use are both extremely relevant topics. This topic interested us as a group because we got to learn about many different contraception methods that we had never heard of.  It was a very informative lecture that made us feel more knowledgeable about protecting ourselves and left us with a greater understanding of the risks associated with improper use.

Throughout the two days that Ms. Janousek lectured, we learned about hormonal and barrier methods of contraception, different types in each category, each methods' pros and cons, and about proper and improper use.  Probably the most popular method of hormonal contraception that we talked about was birth control pills.  While this method is very effective at preventing pregnancy, we learned this method does not help protect against STIs. We also learned that this pill must be taken at the same time everyday, allowing for more human error. After going through several different examples of hormonal methods, we learned that nearly all of them do not protect against STIs.  This was very valuable information. Most college students think that birth control pills protect against everything and they will have unprotected sex.  This is not the case.  Unprotected sex, whether on the pill or not, can lead to the rapid spreading of STIs.

The second half of the lecture focused on barrier methods which include IUDs and condoms.  IUDs are very effective, but do not offer STI protection.  Condoms, however, offer protection against pregnancy and STIs.  They are cheap and widely available.  Ms. Janousek gave a demonstration on how to properly apply a condom. This showed us as a class how quick and easy it is to protect ourselves from unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

This was a very interesting lecture that we as a group thought was very informative and relevant to our class. For most of us, the last time we had any sort of sex ed class was in middle school when all they taught us was abstinence. While abstinence is the only guaranteed protection, we learned that there are many options that we can use to protect ourselves when having sex.  The decisions we make regarding contraception can affect us for the rest of our lives. One bad decision can impact many aspects of our lives, including social.  No one wants to be known as the guy who has gonorrhea or the girl who accidentally got pregnant.

This lecture also related to public health because if we protect our own sexual health, we are protecting society's sexual health.  By blocking the spreading of STIs, we can significantly reduce the number of cases among the population. Many people are unaware that they have an STI and therefore can pass it along with no intention of doing so. That is why correct, regular contraception use is so crucial to our society's health as a whole.

Questions:

• How can this level of awareness be given to middle and high school students? While this is valuable information, we feel like some of the things we talked about would not be suitable for younger children and would probably be met with opposition from parents.  
• What can the university do to make this information more available to students? We found this information very useful, but we realized that we would not have been given this information had we not been enrolled in this class. 

Brandon Murphy
Melissa Thomas
Margaret Sharpe