Let’s face it: spring break is more than just sand and flip-flops. It has become a freedom week for many high school and college students who consider it a week off from reality. Tons of alcohol is consumed and inevitably tons of unplanned and unprotected sex takes place.
For many college students, dating and serious relationships have been replaced in recent years by what can be considered a “hook up culture.” Bars are packed Thursday through Saturday of each week with the buzzed, tipsy, and downright trashed: those people who are looking for someone equally as drunk to take home. With alcohol acting as central nervous system depressant, even one 12-ounce can of beer, which contains about five percent alcohol, can begin to affect how alert someone is, impair judgements, and diminish inhibitions.
Spring breakers from Florida to California, on average, consume 10 drinks per day while vacationing. Think your ability to make both a moral and responsible decision is not effected then? Think again.
It’s hard to imagine because of the drinking and partying synonymous with what is obviously the greatest week in any person’s college career that Spring Break could be anything but fun. However, those who head to the beach without a little education could be taking home a lot more than sand as a souvenir. Half of the sex that occurs during this week off is completely unplanned, probably with total strangers. Half of the sex that occurs is also unprotected, whether it be lack of poor packing or because Jack and Jane were too drunk to even care.
At the risk of sounding like the teacher from your awkard high school sex education classes, that’s SCARY.
In 2011, 5,263 women were diagnosed with gonorrhea, 268 guys were diagnosed with syphillis, and 30,958 women and men combined were diagnosed with chlamydia. The Baton Rouge metropolitan area ranks number one in the nation in new AIDS cases and New Orleans ranks in the top five. That’s in Louisiana alone. Imagine the thousands of other cases throughout the nation that you could come into contact with during your escapades on the beach. By the way, some of these types of contracted diseases have no known treatments. Scared now? You should be.
As the highest at-risk age group, it’s our responsibility to take care of ourselves by making wise decisions. Granted, we aren’t saying it is wrong to have a few drinks and enjoy this time that should be spent relaxing with friends. However, there’s a reason we are in college: to better ourselves. Just because STDs may not be something we learn about in a classroom during our years on this campus, it does not mean we should ignore the reality of the situation.
So, by all means, have fun next week, whether you are staying here or heading out for some much needed relaxation. But be mindful of the situations you put yourself into. More than likely that guy or girl you meet during a late night party isn’t your soulmate and will indeed take advantage of you and all your drunken glory. Instead of making a decision you are going to seriously regret for the rest of your life, have a plan. Make sure someone you trust will tell you when it is time to stop drinking and block the doorway as you try to leave with Random Guy from Night 1. Save yourself the headache and go to bed…alone. The only memories you want to take home are the good ones, not the unexpected ones you find out you carried back on your next visit to the doctor.