Albany campus tackles taboo topics
The Massey Halls at Albany held a Taboo Topics event at the start of this month to encourage and educate students on healthy relationships with sex and alcohol.
The event was held on campus in Te Rito, the social hub for students in Massey Halls, but the event was open to both accommodation residents and non-residents alike.
Students were presented with 5 stations designed to educated about safe drinking, healthy relationships, contraception, STIs and Consent, each student that attended received a goody bag and a cupcake.
“We know that university students are having sex and drinking alcohol and it’s all about making sure that they are doing it safely,” said Emily Maynard, Accommodation Assistant for Te Ohanga Village.
At the alcohol awareness table, students were asked to guess the measure of a standard drink by pouring water into wine and pint glasses. A Ferguson Bar voucher was won by the student with the closest guess.
Students also had the opportunity to don beer goggles and attempt an obstacle course, as well as answering a quiz on safe drinking habits.
To educate students about sexual health, students first had to match the symptom and treatment to different STIs.
Representatives from Family Planning and Body Safe were also present to educate students and answer any questions.
“We believe that everybody has the right to positive and respectful sexual experience,” said a representative from Body Safe.
“In order to do that it’s super important to learn about consent and how to have the conversation.”
Family Planning were helping to run the Contraceptive stall, where students could take part in a condom race - whoever put a correct size condom on correctly and quickly could win a hamper of contraceptives.
At the Consent stall, Body Safe were giving students a consent quiz as well as an activity to match the four steps of consent to the flow of a conversation.
Free cupcakes were given out by the RAs on the Accommodation Team with slogans such as ‘Don’t Assume’, ‘Consent is hot’ and ‘I love safe sex’ iced onto them.
Students were also gifted goodie bags filled with condoms, lube, information leaflets on sex, relationships, drugs and alcohol.