The Health Resource Center is pushing for safety first this Valentine’s Day.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, the Health Resource Center (HRC) will hold its free-condoms event and offer students free safe-sex kits at the Maxson Plaza near Brotman Hall.
The safe-sex kits will include condoms, lubricant, information about the HRC, as well as directions on how to practice safe sex, according to Heidi Burkey, coordinator for the HRC.
Sophomore mechanical engineering major Luis Estrada said he thinks the event is “pretty cool.”
“For one, condoms can get expensive, and [they] help prevent disease,” Estrada said. “A free investment can prevent an 18-year investment.”
At the event, there will also be a demonstration for students who would rather ditch the instructions and learn through a hands-on approach, according to Burkey.
“We will have penis models and condom demonstrations carried out by our peer educators, student assistants and interns,” Burkey said. “We might also give out female condoms and have a female model to demonstrate how to put condoms in a female.”
Students can use preventative techniques to improve their sexual health, Burkey said. Condoms can help prevent sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies and the anxiety that comes from unprotected sex.
“I think it’s good for people who can’t afford them,” said Emily Ducker, a senior liberal studies major, “and also, just to spread awareness about safe sex.”
Burkey said that although most people are satisfied with the free condoms, it’s difficult to make everyone happy.
“It doesn’t matter what brand of condom it is,” Burkey said. “People will say it’s too big, it’s too small or it broke.”
Even though some students are unsatisfied with free condoms, Burkey said, the event is about much more than accommodating for everyone’s preferences.
“The goal of the event is to spread awareness about using protection in order to promote safer sex practices, prevent [sexually transmitted infections] and unwanted pregnancies,” Burkey said. “I want people to know that the [HRC] and its services are available for students.”
Although the HRC offers various programs and services, the most common reasons why students visit the center are for sexual health and birth control services, Burkey said.
In addition, the HRC offers the Family Planning Access Care Treatment program to students, Burkey said. The program, which includes free enrollment, offers free reproductive healthcare for eligible low-income men and women.
