Mia Duvall, a junior at Towson University (Photo taken by Asia Hinton/ Towson Univeristy student)
According to the College Media Network.com, it’s a known fact that college students are among the highest group of individuals to contract sexually transmitted diseases
22-year-old junior and graphic design major Mia Duvall, a student at Towson University, has become concerned with the alarming increase of sexually transmitted diseases throughout college campuses.
“I think that STDs are nasty and I believe that they could be prevented if more people took the necessary precautions before being sexually active.”
Duvall, who doesn’t hear much talk going on around campus about STDs, knows that it is still something that affects many students.
“Its unfortunate that I don’t hear a lot of students talking about STDs. Honestly it doesn’t surprise me though, I don’t expect individuals that have or have had an STD to be vocal about it, simply because of embarrassment or the fear of being judge.”
Although Duvall has chosen to wait to have sex, she still wants to learn other ways that can keep her from getting infected in the future.
Sexual Health Educator Lenore Meyers, who works at the Dowell Health Center, devotes her time to teaching students at Towson University ways that they can keep from contracting any type of STD as well as different protection alternatives that they can choose from.
“There are many ways that students can protect themselves from contracting STDs. The one way is to not have any sexual contact with someone. The most important thing is to use male and female condoms, dental dams or plastic food wrap that can be use for oral vaginal and oral anal sex.”
Even though many students may be embarrassed to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases, confidentiality is a primary goal for the staff at the Dowell Health Center.
“Anytime a student comes to the Dowell Health Center for anything by law we cannot give any information out about them to anyone, not their parents, not their roommates, not their boyfriends or girlfriends without their express direct permission.”
While having sex may be the last thing on Duvall’s mind, she is relieved that Towson offers experts whom she can talk to and confidential places where she can go if she ever considered having sex.
