by: 
aliciaj
aliciajFriday, October 29, 2010 at 1:19:00 PM EDT
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There have recently been a number of articles in The Heights, the independent student newspaper of Boston College, about sexual health and my organization, BC Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH). We appreciate the increase in conversation about this important issue and having a venue to educate students about our work, but unfortunately many of the articles published have reflected fundamental misunderstandings about not only our organization but sexual health in general.
One of most contentious programs BCSSH runs is Safe Sites, in which students volunteer to have condoms and sexual health information available in their dorms. We launched this program last year and have been able to reach students with affordable and informative resources closer to where and when they need them. However, because Boston College is a Catholic university, the provision of contraceptives on campus is a contentious issue, with opinion divided among faculty, administrators, and students. While some claim that the Safe Sites go too far in pushing the boundaries of university policy and Catholic values, BCSSH is devoted to this program as essential to making life-saving resources readily available to students.
When the student newspaper recently published fundamentally wrong information about sexual health, we had to respond. A selection from theireditorial:
The SuperSafe Sites offer not only condoms, but personal lubricants, female condoms, and other items. These distributed materials do not address BCSSH's sexual health education concerns. None of these items effectively prevent STIs, while some don't even prevent unwanted pregnancy, so their distribution is only tangentially related to sexual health.We were able to respond to this wildly inaccurate portrayal of sexual health and BCSSH's dedication to improving sexual health and education on campus in a Letter to the Editor published in the next issue. I have included below the full-length version of our response, which was not published due to the paper's LTE word limit.
Responding to articles and debates in our campus newspaper is vital to moving sexual and reproductive health advocacy forward and ensuring that students and other members of the community are educated about BCSSH's mission. Our interactions with The Heights have only further confirmed the need for BCSSH on campus and the need for more education about sexual health among college students.
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Ten Misconceptions about Sexual Health/BC Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH)
You may have noticed the recent debate about BCSSH and sexual health on campus. Allow us, the BCSSH Executive Board, to clear up some central points.
10. SuperSafe Sites deviate from our original mission.
SuperSafe Sites provide male and female condoms, lubricant, and dental dams, resources that are more inclusive of diverse sexual experiences as well as members of the LGBT community.
9. The new materials offered at SuperSafe Sites do not address sexual health concerns. Sexual Health 101: Lubricant (lube) reduces friction during sex, helping prevent skin and condoms from tearing, reducing the risk of STIs and pregnancy. Dental dams help prevent STI transmission during oral contact. Female condoms are used for the same purposes as male condoms. The SuperSafe Sites also include information on STIs, birth control methods, and Boston-area resources such as clinics and websites.
8. BCSSH is irrelevant as an organization because BC students should buy these sexual health materials for themselves.
BCSSH is not comfortable making assumptions about students’ wealth, and the cost of prophylactics remains a barrier for many students.
7. BCSSH promotes promiscuous and risky behaviors antithetical to health.
The new materials provided in SuperSafe Sites are for the benefit of the LGBT community. We politely assume it was not the paper’s intention to imply that all non-heterosexual sex is “promiscuous” and “risky.” The LGBT community on this campus is marginalized enough as it is; BCSSH refuses to contribute further to that by ignoring their sexual health needs.
6. BCSSH does not respect BC’s Jesuit-Catholic tradition.
Our understanding of the Jesuit tradition at BC includes intellectual and personal formation, as well as serving as men and women for others--including those who are sexually active.
5. BCSSH does not work with the school administration.
University offices with which we meet: Health Services, ODSD, ResLife/Peer Ministers, the upcoming Office of Health Promotion, Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs, University Counseling Services, First Year Experience, the Women’s Resource Center, and faculty from multiple departments and schools.
4. BCSSH crosses the line between being concerned about student safety and “merely talking about sex as a facet of life on campus.”
Sex is a facet of life on campus. We need to talk about that openly in order to ensure it is done safely. Members of the student body are willingly and happily engaging in sexual activity, and we simply wish to promote a healthy approach to that.
3. The majority of students do not support BCSSH’s tactics. We are currently pushing the administration to conduct a survey of sexual health behaviors on campus. If The Heights has succeeded in conducting this survey, we ask you to share the findings with us.
2. BCSSH fails to encourage students to learn more for themselves.
One of BCSSH’s main goals is to provide education and information to students. Let’s forget about all our educational programming. Let’s ignore the information and resources we include attached to every condom we distribute, on our website, and in the SuperSafe Sites materials. BCSSH wants to give students the opportunity to learn more for themselves, but we are not an officially recognized organization, we have limited access to students on campus, and the main newspaper on campus prints the same tired criticisms and stereotypes about us which fail to understand who we are and what we do--and worse, perpetuate dangerous myths about sexual health itself (see #9). So I guess you can say we’ve got our work cut out for us.
1. Sexual health is not an important concern at BC.
While not explicitly printed, this is the inherent message that is sent when we question the legitimacy of sexual health and its place on our campus. Understanding sex and sexuality and making informed decisions about our health is important. So if it’s okay with you (and, frankly, even if it’s not), we’re going to keep doing what we do.
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For more information about BC Students for Sexual Health, visit www.bcssh.com
Comments
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I think that's an excellent response, and I'm so glad that you guys wrote it. I love the work that you're doing!
# Posted By AFY_Samantha
| 11/1/10 10:08 PM
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