<p>I think this is ok but I hope there is educational materials available concerning side effects etc…</p>
<p>One of the worst things I ever saw was my cousins friend who had an encounter, got very sick afterward, went to ER and asked for this and the nurse was rude and judgemental to her. Said “we don’t do those types of things here.” Discharged her with no counseling. She came to me crying, devastated…we went to planned parenthood. Yes, this girl made a poor decision to have unprotected sex but she was in no position to have a baby.</p>
<p>On a tour of a Catholic college, I asked the tour guide whether the campus health center dispensed contraceptives. The guide said no, but pointed out that the Planned Parenthood clinic directly across the street kept a bowl of free condoms in their lobby.</p>
<p>Wonderful idea! My sister was once denied Plan B based on the pharmacist’s moral objections and had to go to another pharmacy to get it (she lives in a fairly rural place so I can tell you that it was not easy for her without a car). A scared college student should have the ability to get access to this without needing to seek out a pharmacy. I hope this idea catches on.</p>
<p><a href=“CBS”>quote</a> Rates of sexually transmitted diseases have doubled among 50- to 90-year-olds in the past decade.
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<p>I’m not even 50 yet but the 50 yo’s of my acquaintance are good-looking, fit, fashionable, all those things - I rather resent having 50 -60 yo lumped in with 80 - 90 yo.</p>
<p>According to what I’ve read, Plan B has a “shelf-life” of 48 months. </p>
<p>I’d think that parents of college freshmen girls would pack their daughter off to college with a substantial supply like getting the college freshman male a supply of condoms.</p>
<p>I think I’d be more likely to send her with condoms, actually, since they’re all that protect from pregnancy and stds. And maybe some other “Plan A”. </p>
<p>@07, why not send her with regular BC pills? As Ohio said, this isn’t meant to be a primary form of birth control.</p>
<p>Also, my insurance wouldn’t cover more than 1 or 2 Plan B pills every 6 months (or some limitation like that- can’t remember for sure). It’s far cheaper to get regular birth control on most insurance plans.</p>
<p>When I did a little online looking yesterday on the shelf-life, I came across a study that indicated at one college that approximately 37% of the females seeking the Plan B pill had intercourse without attempting to use any form of protection. So, over 60% of those females believed that the effort at contraception they had taken had failed in some way.</p>
<p>That coincided with a conversation I had last year while my S was still in college. The campus health professional told me that female students seeking the Plan B pill had revealed to her that they had forgotten to refill their regular BC prescription so were off, had forgotten to take or were not sure if they had taken one or more pills in the series, did not carry the pill pack and had not returned to their residence for several days during which they had intercourse or had intentionally gone off the pill series because they were not presently in or had recently ended a serious relationship and thought/intended that they would take a break from intercourse.</p>
<p>The condom related explanations were that they (or she) did not plan for him to ejaculate, neither the female or the male had one on them at the time, they used up those they had but there were not enough, it broke or came off or she thought (or hoped) he used one but she didnt really know for sure.</p>
<p>I would not be willing to assume that any female would never fit into one of these situations. As the online source also discussed, a lot of campus health facilities arent accessible or fully accessible on the weekend when a lot of the intercourse occurs and the window can close if the female does not have her own source. Maybe a Plan B pill in behind whatever she carries to contain her drivers license would be along with her and available after intercourse.</p>
<p>The online article also addressed costs by noting that having Plan B on hand just in case was a lot less expensive than an abortion. </p>
<p>Im not suggesting giving up on encouraging Plan A efforts. But sex happens. I just think the female in possession of the Plan B pill just in case is prudent and ultimately cost effective in comparison with other non-Plan A choices.</p>
<p>There are other methods besides the pill that don’t require the woman to actively do anything…and other methods that are much safer/don’t have any side effects (including condoms). Not sure the pill would be my rec for my D in any case.</p>
<p>I think for a lot of girls I know, the side effects of the pill are very positive. For me, (TMI to follow) I have much lighter, more regular periods (well, technically withdrawal bleeds) and I haven’t gotten menstrual cramps since I started them. </p>
<p>DAD07’s argument has me convinced though. Never bad to have a backup. I think it is good to encourage young women to be responsible for their reproductive health, and the same for men. If both are getting the message that they should be using contraceptives and condoms to prevent pregnancy and STDs, hopefully at least one of them will remember to do so (but of course, things happen).</p>
<p>Male responsibility for safe sex. For many males who were in college at and shortly after birth control pills came out and prior to AIDS being a very public fact, birth control was something the female had to address. Seems neanderthal, but it is an accurate description as to many of us.</p>
<p>As a female poster on the thread about birth control at Catholic universities acknowledged, not only did the girl get on the pill, back then neither sex really worried that much about stds (i.e, VD or the clap). So, there are a good number of men (and women) who got married in the late 1960s or in the 1970s and have never used a condom. As I can testify (and do exemplify), numerous of us did not start families until we were in our late 30s or after so we are the parents of recent and current college students. Condoms are not second nature to these parents. Unless these parents (especially the dads) get onboard the condom train for their sons and daughters, there is a mentoring problem.</p>
<p>Im not so sure that even current female college students are that wild about condoms. I know a current college male whose girlfriend, prior to getting to the stage of intercourse, told him that if he wanted sex with her he had to get tested for AIDS/stds. He did and asked his mother for the insurance card and information to have it done. BTW–the male told his mom the whats and whys and the mom and the dad really respect this girl for her caution. While it probably gives some parents a case of nerves (or worse), some students will rely on a clean test result and both parties to the relationship staying exclusive and do not use condoms. </p>
<p>I told my son that sober (i.e., not drinking or high) sex should be considered as an integral part of safe sex. The statistics on unwanted pregnancies and stds indicate that mixing in drugs or alcohol with sex is very risky. Of course there is a ***do as I say, not as I do ***problem, if mom (and/or dad) has to get a snoot-full to enjoy sex.</p>
<p>All things considered, as a parent, prayer may come in handy as well.</p>
<p>Along with easy access to condoms and Plan B, colleges also ought to provide more guidance to young people about safe sex. I remember, back when I was in college, attending a highly entertaining how-to-use-a-condom workshop – my institution had developed it with an AIDS prevention funding grant. Is stuff like that still available to students nowadays?</p>