PRIDE hosts sex-themed Jeopardy to educate students on STDs

Safe, Sane and Sober Jeopardy, hosted by PRIDE, helped Emporia State students to learn about the many characteristics of sexually transmitted infections, drugs, sex toys, alcohol and other elements that may be prevalent in college students lives.

“This is a game we saw at a conference we attended,” said Lisa Overzat, junior sociology major and executive chair of PRIDE “It’s an educational game and it’s inclusive about several aspects involved with Safe, Sane and Sober sex. I thought this would be a way for students to learn about STIs in a way different from a classroom setting and because it’s in a different environment they may be more likely to remember the information they learned.”

The game was held on Monday in Visser Hall room 330. During the first session, teams could choose from six different categories. The questions were all multiple choice, true and false and fill in the blank. As players chose questions worth more points the questions got progressively harder. One of the categories was called “Purple Fabulousness,” and was all about herpes, while another discussed how many drug treatments are approved by the FDA for the treatment or control of herpes.

Another category was called “Clap…if You Can Hear Me” and discussed Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Overzat said that all of the STIs listed in this category are bacterial, meaning that they are curable through antibiotics. However, if not treated, Chlamydia and gonorrhea could lead to infertility.

“I wish I would have done better during the game,” said Michael Olsen, sophomore sociology major. “My team and I didn’t win but the game was very informative. There were several of the questions that I just honestly didn’t know the answer to.”

Category number five was entitled “A Spoonful of Malt Liquor” and included questions about links to alcoholism. The section informed students that a glass of wine contains the same amount of alcohol as a shot of whiskey. It also informed them that alcohol is a depressant that affects not only your nervous system but also represses social norms and inhibits decision making.

“Aren’t You a Chatty Crabby” encouraged discussion about cancer, taught that HPV can lead to cervical cancer and that cancer can cause the biological phenomenon of mutation to occur in the body. “A Bone to Pick, an Itch to Scratch” was another category discussing scabies and crabs.

“I thought the categories were pretty funny,” said Emily Thomas, junior theater major. “I just kind of sat back and listened and learned. They presented a lot of information that I hadn’t heard about before. I don’t think we even covered some of this information in sex [education] but we probably should have because it’s important information to know.”