Denver: Sex 101 -- College Students Increasingly Casual about Bedfellows, Just as Casual about Condoms

Baskets brimming with condoms dot dormitory floors at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Despite the fact that college students can get contraceptives more easily than a case of beer, more than half of all American college students had unprotected sex during the past year, according to a recent poll by CollegeClub.com, a student interest Web site that provides information about health, relationships, academics and lifestyle issues.

Perhaps that is why peer educators at CU spend their Saturday nights handing out sex kits -- plastic baggies packed with condoms, lubricant and information about emergency contraception. They also defend peers who choose safe, casual sex instead of monogamous sex.

CU sexual health peer educators often talk about sex and campus life. These students are well-versed in intimacy issues, using terms like "withdrawal" and "dental dam" without batting an eye. They say getting peers to use condoms is a full-time job. "I can't tell you how many people I talk to who use protection when they first hook up, then a month goes by and they figure they know the person well enough, so they stop using condoms," said Anna Heimerl, a 20-year-old junior.

"I talk about the optimism of college students quite a bit," said Jonna Fleming, the coordinator of CU's Sexual Health Education Program. "[They] have a hard time thinking about anything going wrong," she said. "This is not about a specific behavior, but an attitude that puts students at risk." Jim Styn of CollegeClub.com said: "The AIDS epidemic no longer seems top of mind for many college-aged men and women. No longer associating sex with STDs and possible death has created a more relaxed approach toward sex and contraception."

Having unprotected sex and having uncommitted sex are two very different decisions, says Julia Davis with the Kaiser Family Foundation. Davis oversees the Foundation's sex education partnerships with MTV and Seventeen magazine. "Young people are more likely to say they'll use a condom in a hook-up than in a longer term relationship," she said. "In that sense, casual sex may be safer sex for a lot of young people."

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