SPA-361 Laboratory in Leadership Development I, August 2017 – May 2018
In my first year in the SPA Leadership Program, I was a part of the Gender and Sexuality issue group. Amongst our group members, we developed the following research question: “How can we factually inform members of our community on inclusive sexual education?”
The first phase of our social action project was to disseminate a poll to gain insight into the academic background and awareness of students on the topic of sexual education. The poll consisted of a variety of questions such as “What type of school did you go to?”, “Did you receive sexual education and if so, what did you learn?”, “Did you receive same-sex sexual education?”, etc. The 246 responses we received revealed that while most of the students received a sexual education, there was still a decently sized percentage that did not and we noticed that there was a difference in sexual education received between students who attended public school and those that attended private school. Additionally, a staggering percentage of respondents never received same-sex education. While our results indicated that students on campus do have a basic idea of safe sexual behaviors and consent, it is neither entirely consistent or accurate.
The second phase of our social action project was a safe sex tabling event. Prior to its occurrence on April 21st, 2018, we operated an advertisement campaign for Trojan’s “Consent: Ask for It” campaign. As a result, we received 500 condoms, temporary tattoos, and a large banner with bubbles for students to fill in with what their understanding of consent was. We also distributed candy and collected various safe-sex slogans from attendees and the winner won a $50 Visa gift card. The event concluded with 104 attendees, 500 distributed condoms, and a banner full of students’ definitions of consent. Throughout the event, we were able to verbally communicate with students, asking them about what they believed consent was, as well as spread awareness for the issue and the goals of our campaign. As a result of our social media campaign and tabling event, we were able to increase students’ awareness of how to engage in safe sex as well as provide inclusive and comprehensive resources on safe sex practices.
