Getting it on, making love, hooking up, doing the “mattress mambo,” whatever you want to call it, students are having sex. With recent studies reporting three-fourths of Americans are sexually active, the need for sexual education grows larger every day.
Although many schools offer resources to educate students on the clinical aspects of sex (sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, HIV/AIDS, e), there are limited resources for students looking to simply ask questions and talk about sex.
Enter Sandra L. Caron, Ph.D., Professor of Family Relations and Human Sexuality in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine. Dr. Caron’s new website, CollegeSexTalk.com is opening doors for students to come to terms with their sexuality, as well as providing an inviting atmosphere for those students looking for tips, answers and solutions from their peers.
“I wanted to provide a serious discussion of sexual issues, a place where we can get down to the real stuff students want to say about sex,” Caron explained. “This is not meant to be some x-rated pick-up site, we are trying to keep it appropriate.”
Dr. Caron began the website in the spring of 2001 to “provide a space for students to talk across the nation.” The idea originated out of Caron’s wildly popular human sexuality class at U of M. Through the class, Caron was able to organize discussions for students on sexual issues and found the results fascinating.
“There was such an outpouring of support for what I was trying to do, and students really took an active interest in opening up about their sex lives and behaviors,” Caron said.
The site features daily polls on a variety of sexual topics, a list of the top 25 books every college student should read about sex, an extensive glossary of sex terms, news bulletins on sexual issues and constant live discussions about all areas of sex.
“College students don’t want to talk about someone’s 50-year-old husband having impotence problems, they need a place for just college students,” Caron explained.
University of Wisconsin sophomore Michelle Litteken had her own opinions after logging onto the website to see what it was about.
“It looks informative, but I don’t think most people with questions would go to a website,” Litteken said. “They are more likely to go read “Cosmopolitan” or “Maxim” if they want to know about sex.”
For years, UW students have had their own local resource for sexual issues and discussion, Sex Out Loud. SOL is an on-campus group committed to sexual health outreach, promotion and education on campus. By presenting interactive programs for students in dorms, student organizations and classrooms addressing the issues of safer sex, healthy relationships, sexual pleasure and HIV/AIDS, SOL is committed to changing community norms and behavior in the area of safer sex and healthy relationships. The Project Coordinator for SOL, UW junior Meghan Benson, was very excited by the steps CollegeSexTalk.com is taking to promote students’ sexual awareness.
“It sounds absolutely wonderful,” Benson said. “I think anything that gets students out there talking is great. Sex is still so taboo in our culture, and the idea of students nationwide discussing it is fascinating.”
