Journal #6: "The Birds and The Bees 101"

Journal #6: Read Joy Davis’ article about sex on campus, entitled Carnal Knowledge, found here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_n9_v14/ai_21099910/
After reading the entire article, think about her conclusions. Do you agree with her 10 points that college students know? Do you think that the average college student is aware of these facts? Do you agree with her list of 10 facts that they should know? Are there any facts that you would remove or add to this list?

"Let's talk about sex." The one line that just seems to perk up the ears of all college students. "Let's talk about fractions", "Let talk about Hemingway", and "Let's talk about the spinal cord"... just doesn't have the same hold on college students as anything with the word about "sex." When you take young adults, who are all thinking of one thing, and one thing only- and throw them into co-ed dormitory's.

Joy Davis' article was very interesting. However, i think it's hard for me to decide what all college students know about sex. For example, I'm a virgin. I've made a life decision to save sex for marriage. So many would say, I know less about sex than the average college student. Others would argue, that I know more. I also would like to point out, that the article was written about 12 years ago. A lot has changed in the past 12 years...Everythings gotten just a bit worse.

Some points that stuck out to me:

10 things a college student ALREADY know
-# 10 "One-night stands can have major repercussions. " I've never lived on a college campus, but I have many close friends that do. I often visit them, and spend the night. And i see an immense amount of one night stands. Boys and Girls, who are okay with going into the opposites sex room for "company." Sure, they may know their are consequences to one-night stands. However, at the point of intoxication, lust and loneliness...the facts just don't weigh very heavy. Having "heard" one-night stands are risky and "knowing" is entirely two different things. Knowing is believing. And an immense amount of students do not believe, that the risk of one-night stands will effect them. So therefore, I don't think they actually "know" one-night stands can have major repercussions to THEM.

10 things a college student SHOULD know
- This part of the article is pretty basic. It's a nice overview of STDs knowledge, safe sex, pregnancy prevention and so on..Therefore, it 's pretty easy to agree with all the points made.

However, # 3 on the list states college students should know that alcohol and sex do not make a good match, especially in choosing a "bedfellow." I have yet, to met a college student who does not know this.

Overall, I enjoyed the article. I didn't learn a lot of new information, and I am a college student. I would also like to think, that if my friends were to reread this essay, they would feel the same way. I think most college students already know the facts. It just comes down to if they are willing to take the dangerous chances or listen.