How hard is it to use a condom?
It seems like an easy question, and yet 50 percent of students are not using condoms, according to a new app called Hula. Is the heat of the moment to blame? True love? Maybe laziness?
Whatever the reason, the formerly popular protector, the condom, is not in use, and coincidentally, sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, Hula claimed.
Should college students be using condoms? Yes. Ultimately, what is most important is taking the responsibility to get tested for STDs and letting your partner know your results, clean or not, whether it is through word of mouth or an iPhone.
For the tech savvy sex addicts, or the freaks in the sheets that are too shy to ask about STDs, Hula is a great investment. For everyone else, it is probably just a waste of space on your phone.
Hula makes it easy for students to find the best place to get tested for STDs, and is a convenient place to share test results with candidates for futures encounters via the app’s “unzip” feature.
The app is probably a smart way to draw in millennials. Although not all of us are glued to our phones, having access to information on where to get tested and see other’s results makes being sexually empowered easier.
Hula is easy to use and visually appealing, all bonuses to the power it is putting in the hands of young people.
But, there are some downsides.
If a college student is with a long-term partner who is on birth control, they may not see a need for condoms or worry about STDs. Hula would not be on the radar for these couples. And P.S., if you are one of those couples, condoms are still probably a good choice. They are pretty easy to use and will help ensure you do not have any babies before you finish your degree. Not that you needed a lecture or sex education lesson or anything.
For everyone else, condoms should be a definite. No one wants to walk down Temple Street and think, “hey, that’s the person who gave me chlamydia.”
Hula asks if you are at least 17 years old, which is discouraging because there are lots of people under 17 having sex who have fewer resources than their older counterparts; they cannot drive to a Planned Parenthood or a doctor’s office.
How many people are going to use an app to keep up with their sexual health? It is a neat little thing, but I cannot imagine people actually using it. The only thing that makes me hesitate from saying Hula is completely useless is the necessity for sexually empowering resources for college students.
At the end of the day, students should not need an app to tell their sexual partners if they have STDs or to have initiative to get tested. If you think you are responsible enough to have sex, you must be responsible enough to handle the consequences of doing it unsafely, whether that is babies or diseases.
