Butt plugs, vibrators and lube were all prizes participants of Bingo After Dark could win in Park Hall’s Hargrave Multipurpose Room on Thursday, March 23. Ball State’s Student Action Team (SAT) and Health Wellness and Promotion Advocacy (HPA) partnered together for the sex education event.
Sex-related questions were asked throughout the game of bingo. There were also mini-games where participants put condoms on penis-shaped ring toss sticks as well as rings. Destiny Cherry, health and wellness coordinator in the Department of HPA, said the purpose of this event is to provide education on sex to students in an entertaining way. Bingo After Dark is one of the many events held by HPA centered around sex education.
“[HPA does] a lot of safer sex events because sex education in the United States is pretty bad,” Cherry said. “The more education people have, the better decisions they can make for themselves and the safer everyone will be. I know some people think that means we’re encouraging people to have sex, but we actually have other things here too. We brought prizes that have nothing to do with sex.”
Briana Towns, fourth-year Ball State history and political science major and awareness chair for SAT, said they are wanting to raise awareness of everything happening in the world. Towns said SAT has partnered with other groups on campus and has held events to help students get involved in creating a safer environment on campus.
Towns said she was heavily involved in planning the event, however, because this event has been held in the past few years she said she didn’t have to do a lot of work. Towns said these events are important for students so they can become more knowledgeable about safe sex.
“Every time someone comes to college, they are ready to be free, but [they] should also be smart and safe while [they] are being free and living [their] life,” Towns said. “[This event is] giving them an outlet in a way that’s fun for them to be able to learn with a whole bunch of peers, so they don’t feel uncomfortable.”
Towns said she feels Ball State has great resources on sex education for students, but they aren’t well known. She said she loves doing events like Bingo After Dark because it gives students a better idea of what resources are available to them.
Akira Wilson, second-year Ball State legal studies major, said she had adequate sex education in grade school. There were optional classes for her to take, and her mom pushed her to be enrolled in them. Later in her grade school career, she said there was a lack of sex education. Her mom then began educating her further.
Wilson said she went to the Bingo After Dark event not only because it looked fun, but also because sex isn’t something that is often talked about. She said this event made her feel more comfortable talking about sex.
“Nobody talks about sex in everyday life,” Wilson said. “This is a comfortable space where all just talk about it. It’s not something weird. People feel comforted to be here and everybody’s super nice.”
Sydney Cole, fourth-year Ball State public relations major, holds up prizes for Bingo After Dark. Bingo After Dark included questions relating to sex education to provide more facts and information to students. Maya Kim, DN
During bingo, all kinds of questions are asked about sex. Wilson said she learned a lot about sex from these questions that she hadn’t learned in school.
Wilson and Towns agree the more education college students have on sex, the better they are to make decisions. They said college gives people a chance to make their own decisions without worrying about what their parents might think.
“We’re making decisions all on our own,” Wilson said. “These decisions are better made well-informed and well-educated.”
HPA and SAT said there are some people who react negatively to events that openly talk about sex. Cherry said her work in HPA comes with many negative reactions to their events on sex education.
“My opinion and my department’s opinion is that knowledge is power,” Cherry said. “We understand that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but we also do a lot of health education for other things too. Like physical health, mental health, sleep, stress and overall wellness. If [some people] don’t wanna learn about this, they don’t have to come to the event … At the end of the day, just getting this information out there so people can make the best decision for themselves is why we do this.”
Contact Maya Kim at mayabeth.kim@bsu.edu or on Twitter @MayaKim03 with comments.
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