Planned Parenthood hosted a sex-ed information session on Feb.19 at the IT Building in Room 1005. The speaker of the session was Julia Satterlee, Health Educator from the Planned Parenthood Southeast location in Savannah, Georgia.   

This event was part of a series called SHAI (Student Health Awareness Initiative) organized by freshmen psychology pre-med major Gabi Wiggill. 

“We all have misconceptions about sexual health,” said Wiggill. “There’s a certain stigma surrounding it. Sexual health should be something we can talk about without any biases or prejudices. Just get the facts out, make it something we can easily talk about. We need to know these things.”

Instead of a formal lecture style, Satterlee broke the attendees into groups of three to participate in a jeopardy style game. Groups picked from the categories: PSSE Services, Contraceptives, Body Health Facts 1, Body Health Facts 2 and Pleasure. 

“Do you guys feel like you know a lot about sexual health?” Satterlee asked. No hands were raised. 

Students were quizzed with questions like: “Which birth control methods also protect against sexually transmitted infections?”, “What group coined the term ‘reproductive justice’ and was the lead plaintiff in the court case that overturned Georgia’s six week abortion ban?” and “What are pap smears used to test for?”. 

After each team gave their answer, the correct answer was displayed with Satterlee explaining them in-depth and and how they are important

Attendees learned that the most common cancer for men between ages 18 to 35 is testicular cancer and that men should give themselves monthly self-exams like women should give themselves self breast exams monthly. 

Satterlee maintained a lighthearted yet informative level in the room. “I love acronyms. Wanna know a funny way to remember how to properly use a condom? O.P.R.A.H. It stands for Open, Pinch, Roll, Action and Hold.” she said.  

Students were able to freely ask questions in an environment that was judgement-free.

In between game questions, Satterlee provided diagrams of sexual organs and educated students on how they look and what their functions are. Along with that, she demonstrated  uncommon forms of sexual protection like female condoms and dental dams as well as how to use them. 

“Did you know that abortions only make up about 3% of Planned Parenthood services a year? We do so much more than that.” Satterlee said mentioning sex education and STI/STD testing as some of the many services offered. 

Contact information for Planned Parenthood Southeast and the Statesboro Regional Sexual Assault Center were displayed for students to take pictures. Condoms, candies and other freebies were given out. 

The next event in the SHAI series will be discussing LGBTQ+ and Trans Health on Feb. 26th at the IT Building in Room 1005 at 5:00 PM.