Ever attempt fitting a condom over a bone? Some fake skeleton bones, that is.
This year’s Halloween-themed Safer Sex Olympics sponsored by HOPE Peer Education Mentors and Adagio Health found nothing spooky about testing various brands of condoms on some Halloween props.
Senior secondary education English major, Sami Parks, 20, enjoyed watching the condom frenzy at this year’s games, she said.
Parks has been a HOPE Peer Education Mentor for three years and said she enjoyed the event every year that it has been put on by the group.
Parks said she liked experimenting with some of the protection options available for students to test out as well.
“We tried stretching condoms over pool sticks,” Parks said. “And they went all the way!”
She and the rest of the mentors and students in attendance experimented with Durex brand condoms and were surprised by the results, Parks said.
“People get a common misconception about Durex condoms,” Parks said. “Durex has been repeatedly tested and they are equal in comparison to Trojan ENZ brand condoms.”
Parks helped students put condoms over plastic skulls and skeleton feet to demonstrate their durability and overall stretchability.
Parks noted that some of her favorite activities of the night included the pregnant belly race and a beer goggles experimentation.
Sophomore information systems major, Brock Denes, 23, said he learned a lot of valuable information from the event while also having some fun.
“It’s really difficult to put a Trust-Ex condom over a skeleton’s head,” Denes said. “But condoms stretch really far!”
Denes joked that he also learned the proper procedure to putting on a condom. Though he did not particularly enjoy wearing a backpack over his chest that represented a large, makeshift pregnant belly while picking up plastic spiders and attempting to tie a shoe string around his foot, he said he tried to make in through each task.
Freshman social work major and volunteer for the Protection Connection, Krista Davis, 18, said she enjoyed sharing in valuable protection information.
“I was expecting it to be awkward,” she said. “But it was awesome!”
Davis also advertised for the event, which she felt might have been uncomfortable for some people, but she said she was pleased by the number of people in attendance.
Davis also said she enjoyed throwing darts at mounted condom balloons.
“I know that you shouldn’t use oil-based lubricants because they can deteriorate a condom,” Davis said. She added while laughing, “Also, it’s really hard to put condoms on feet!”But she agreed that Durex condoms seemed to stretch longer.
Senior health and physical education major, Trevor Foley, 22, said he was thrilled by the number of students competing in the Safer Sex Olympics and was impressed by the amount of participation.
“This is the first time we’ve done a Halloween theme,” he said. “It really brought out a ton of people!”
Foley said he noticed many of the students enjoyed putting condoms on an inflatable spider’s legs.
“People got a real kick out of a lot of the games that Adagio Health shared with us,” Foley said.
Foley explained that the HOPE Peer Education Mentors and Adagio Health do not promote sex and drinking to students, but realize that it is important to educate the campus with protection information. They aim to provide college-related health in a hopefully entertaining way, he said.
