Sex fair teaches students to protect all their body parts

“Wanna guess how many condoms I have?” \nPlanned Parenthood peer educator and master’s student Emily Forsyth asked passers-by this question Tuesday while holding a 5-gallon clear plastic jug filled to the brim with assorted condoms. \nThe prize for guessing the number of condoms was three dozen condoms.\n“How many condoms are in the jug?” was one of the games Planned Parenthood educators and volunteers hosted during a fair with the theme “Protect All Your Body Parts this Spring Break” Tuesday and Wednesday in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nThe condom jar and Rubber Ducky Match-up were some of the games, along with Sexual Jeopardy and STI (sexually transmitted infection) Plinko. \nEach game required players to answer questions about birth control, men’s and women’s health and STIs, such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, to win door prizes such as bagel tokens to Bloomington Bagel Company, “Safe Sex in the City” T-shirts and gift certificates to Soma and Laughing Planet.\nEducators also handed out free condoms and sunscreen at both locations, fitting with the theme of “Protect All Your Body Parts this Spring Break.” \n“We passed out 500 condoms,” said Emily Ebel-Orr, a nurse at Planned Parenthood who volunteered Tuesday.\nEducators passed out literature on topics such as “Why You Should Know About Melanoma,” “What Women Should Know About Cervical Cancer” and “Sexually Transmitted Infections: The Facts.”\n“I think it’s important,” sophomore Nathan Sommer said. “Some people may be uncomfortable, but it’s still important to know.”\nStudents who stopped by to play the games also picked up free goodies such as condoms with stickers on them that read “Just Wear It,” press-on tattoos that read “Real Sex Ed Saves Lives!” and promotional pens for Planned Parenthood and Gardasil, the vaccine for human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer.\n“It’s obviously a good idea ... Especially throughout a college campus,” said senior Nicole Schutz, who attended Tuesday. “It’s great, and they’re obviously very knowledgeable.”\nSenior Aaron Glatt agreed that the event was educational and entertaining.\n“I learned a couple new things about gonorrhea,” he said, referring to the STI Plinko.\nPlanned Parenthood sexuality educator Larisa Niles-Carnes organized the event and said she was satisfied with the student involvement and turn out.\n“We had a lot of participation from a lot of people,” she said Tuesday.