Harvard's True Love Revolution takes aim at 'mindless sex'
The challenge of effective sex ed is vast
Adrienne Richards
Issue date: 3/26/07 Section: Opinion
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Sex ed.
We have been learning the male and female anatomy since middle school. We had tests on the "boy parts" and "girl parts." Movies have repeatedly made a mockery of this sex education while classrooms full of students have giggled and blushed trying to put a condom on a banana.
Now, Harvard University has formed an abstinence group to fight against what they call "mindless sex."
Two students at the Ivy League school discovered a student health center's advertisement for FREE LUBE, a promotion of the mindless sex they are fighting against, so they opted to offer an alternative. Interestingly enough, the two who have created this group are dating. They have called their group True Love Revolution and have over 90 participants on their Facebook.com page.
According to the homepage for the group, "TLR is a new, non-sectarian student group at Harvard College dedicated to the promotion of premarital sexual abstinence...[the group's] efforts focus on community outreach, publicity, and support for those who wish to remain strong in or have recommitted themselves to this cause."
It was evident my freshman year that sex-talk was normal conversation at Wilkes. I remember it being thrown in my face the moment I walked into the dormitory. Baskets of individually lubricated condoms filled the common room, along with flavorful dental dams. Some wiseguy always found it amusing to display these sexual protection mechanisms as artwork around the dorm. And stickers were randomly placed around the halls with the black bold words JUST DO IT printed on a white condom. In short, sex is everywhere.
As freshmen we were encouraged to attend group discussions about practices of safe sex and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, we have moved from STDs to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In a recent conversation with my mother, she was unaware of the switch from STDs to STIs. I will once and for all separate the two. STDs have symptoms. However, organizations have begun using the term STIs because these infections can be passed from one individual to another even when there are no apparent symptoms.
We have been learning the male and female anatomy since middle school. We had tests on the "boy parts" and "girl parts." Movies have repeatedly made a mockery of this sex education while classrooms full of students have giggled and blushed trying to put a condom on a banana.
Now, Harvard University has formed an abstinence group to fight against what they call "mindless sex."
Two students at the Ivy League school discovered a student health center's advertisement for FREE LUBE, a promotion of the mindless sex they are fighting against, so they opted to offer an alternative. Interestingly enough, the two who have created this group are dating. They have called their group True Love Revolution and have over 90 participants on their Facebook.com page.
According to the homepage for the group, "TLR is a new, non-sectarian student group at Harvard College dedicated to the promotion of premarital sexual abstinence...[the group's] efforts focus on community outreach, publicity, and support for those who wish to remain strong in or have recommitted themselves to this cause."
It was evident my freshman year that sex-talk was normal conversation at Wilkes. I remember it being thrown in my face the moment I walked into the dormitory. Baskets of individually lubricated condoms filled the common room, along with flavorful dental dams. Some wiseguy always found it amusing to display these sexual protection mechanisms as artwork around the dorm. And stickers were randomly placed around the halls with the black bold words JUST DO IT printed on a white condom. In short, sex is everywhere.
As freshmen we were encouraged to attend group discussions about practices of safe sex and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, we have moved from STDs to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In a recent conversation with my mother, she was unaware of the switch from STDs to STIs. I will once and for all separate the two. STDs have symptoms. However, organizations have begun using the term STIs because these infections can be passed from one individual to another even when there are no apparent symptoms.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
scott kirk
posted 4/11/07 @ 12:54 AM EST
good for you, the culture of decadance at Americas most prestigous university should be of concern to us all...
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