Students were treated to a variety of free condoms and pizza at the sex ed session last Thursday.

Pizza, sex and education

By: Valorie Engholm

Posted: 9/11/06

The University of Missouri-Kansas City student group Feminists United held their second Free Pizza and Sex(ed) session behind Royall Hall last Thursday. The event, which lasted from 12:30-2 p.m., was designed to educate students about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and birth control, and to dispel common myths about sex. Planned Parenthood provided free condoms and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic provided informative pamphlets about STDs and birth control.

"Our goal with this event is just to educate people and hope they take an active role in the decisions of their sex lives," said Victoria Pickering, president of Feminists United.

It was the goal of Feminists United to help young students make their own decisions about sex, teach students about sex without any moral judgements, and help students understand how to stay safe. Pickering also believes that comprehensive sex education "includes abstinence."

The event started with a brief lecture from Pickering about STDs. In her lecture, Pickering informed students about the nine known STDs, their origins, and what each disease can do to a person's body. Pickering stressed the importance of getting tested for each known disease and gave advice for where to get tested. The lecture then led to prevention tactics, which included abstinence, safer sex, vaccines and mutual monogamy.

After the lecture, Pickering and fellow Feminists United member Julie Coon hosted a game titled "Who Would You Sleep With," in which three people were presented to the audience with three different situations. The audience had to decide with whom it would be safest to have intercourse.

Following the STD demonstration was another short informative lecture on types of birth control. Pickering listed many types of birth control available, including abstinence, condoms, birth control pills and other contraceptives. The students were shown examples of a female condom, intro-uterine device (IUD), diaphragm, Depo Provera injection, and the "morning-after pill" called Plan B. Afterwards, the students were invited to play Birth Control Jeopardy, an informative question-and-answer game in which those in attendance were divided into teams and took turns answering questions about birth control.

Rolita West, a graduate intern at the Women's Center at UMKC and Women's Advocate at Hope House, a domestic violence shelter for women and children, informed the students about the effects of domestic violence, what to watch for, and how to protect themselves against domestic violence.

For more information about STDs, birth control, or to learn more about where to get tested, come to the Women's Center, 105 Haag Hall, 5100 Rockhill Road

vengholm@unews.com