Almost 80 percent of college students have had sex, according to a report by the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Institute. Nearly three-fourths have had it within the past 12 months. Countless errant thoughts are devoted to it. Whether you're doing it a lot, have never done it or want to be doing it more, sexual intercourse is a normative aspect of college life.
Currently on the rise, however, is the number of unplanned pregnancies among college-aged women. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health research, half of all American women seeking to avoid pregnancy remain at risk each year.
The study found that eight percent of women use no contraception at all, while 15 percent go through periods of contraceptive nonuse. The vast majority of women at risk, though, perceive themselves to be protected because they rely on a contraceptive method — but their usage is inconsistent or incorrect. Incorrect usage may include inconsistently taking birth control pills or attempting to overcompensate by using more than one condom at once, both of which decrease effectiveness.
"The results of the study found that there are many reasons why there are problems with contraception," Sneha Barot, senior public policy associate for the Guttmacher Institute said. "Some personal crisis or a life transition can affect patterns and spur gaps in use. Many women are constantly on and off the highway of contraception."
Societal norms can also serve to deter women from correct contraceptive use, according to Barot. "Society makes contraceptive use unnecessarily hard. It could really be doing more to help. There are so many barriers — financial, medical, logistical — that don't need to be there," she said. "There are whole sets of issues involved … It's not hard to see why women face problems."
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, one potential reason for incorrect and inconsistent contraceptive use may lie in the public's surprising lack of knowledge about contraception. "Women and men in their twenties think that they know a lot about contraception. They think that they are well-informed and protected," Jessica Sheets, senior manager of the campaign's communications program, said. "They're wrong. Our medical knowledge surveys show that they barely know anything … The problem is that they think they do."
One Tufts student, for example, said that she was currently stressed because her period was late after engaging in several instances of unprotected sex. "I really hope I'm not pregnant," she said. "My friends tell me that I can't be … He pulled out, and I'm sure I'm fine."
American sex-education programs may be to blame for the lack of accurate information. "Our current abstinence-only sex-education policy does not give individuals the tools that they need to make informed decisions about contraception," Associate Professor of Child Development Tama Leventhal said. "The sex-ed we offer doesn't necessarily teach anything about sex."
Sheets agreed that the facts might be less salient and less accessible than myths. "A lot of our knowledge about sex, about preventing pregnancy, is based on what we've heard from friends. This information becomes distorted so quickly. Some people still think that you can't get pregnant if you jump up and down after having sex. It's hard to have accurate information."
And, contrary to popular belief, the Guttmacher Institute found that there was little to no relation between educational attainment or socioeconomic class and the likelihood of inadvertently becoming pregnant — meaning that money and a Tufts degree don't grant immunity from an unwanted pink plus sign on a pregnancy test.
"This whole idea of ‘It can't happen to me' is so absurd," Sheets said. "People are completely shocked when they realize that it has happened to them … But it's a universal thing. If you're not having protected sex every time you have sex, you're putting yourself at risk."
The potential costs — both financial and intangible — of that risk can be high, Sheets said. "Having a child when you're not ready affects basically every single aspect of your life. Children cost money … Everything's different with a child. Your future earning potential, job prospects and relationships all change."
Neither the Guttmacher Institute nor the National Campaign had statistics available about the proportion of American women faced with unintended pregnancies that choose to abort, adopt or keep the child. But some Tufts students have been faced with the prospect of making that choice after a contraceptive mishap or misuse, and many more say that their use of contraception is flaky at best.
"There was a broken condom," said one Tufts female, who requested anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity. She had been abroad and said the incident was even more unnerving because she was flying home that day. "I was really terrified, especially since I was leaving that day," she said. "I told him the condom broke and he was just like, ‘Oh, s--t.'"
The broken condom did not lead to pregnancy for the student, but she said that the process was nevertheless incredibly stressful. "It's just really emotionally draining to go through that."
According to several students, however, potential pregnancies more often result from failure to correctly use contraception than contraceptive failure. One male student said that he had never had unprotected sex but then corrected himself. "Well, there was that one time, but it doesn't really count," he said.
Many other students cited birth control pills as a particularly problematic method due to the constant commitment. "I have sex a lot, which is fun. I've forgotten to take the pill a lot, which is not so fun," one student said. "I've had to use Plan B [morning-after emergency contraception]. I try to be more careful now, but I think the pill is an inconvenient method and it's hard for me to remember to take it every day, let alone at the same time every day."
Pregnancy isn't the only sexual consequence on the minds of students, however. One homosexual male said that he worries about contracting a sexually transmitted disease. "I'm absolutely terrified of AIDS," he said. "I don't let that fear run my life or anything, but it's always in the back of my mind."
He also suggested that the possibility of pregnancy might not command fear among students because, if it happens, there's a widespread perception that it is not irreversible. "It's easy to get an abortion — perhaps with that ease, it's like people are trying to be safe, but if it doesn't work, and s--t happens, they can fix it like that," he said. "I know people who use protection, and it fails occasionally, and it's never a big deal. It's just like, ‘Oh, time for the morning-after pill.'"
Barot explained that while it may be difficult for college students to be vigilant about protection, they have to be persistent. "Make sure there's never a gap in your coverage. Some women get discouraged when they first try birth control and there are side effects, so they just don't use it. Switching methods is common," she said. "Each woman responds differently. Each woman needs to find a method that works for her at this point in her life, and be open to changing it later. Women should remain in constant conversation with their doctors about their contraceptive methods throughout life."
Sheets agreed, urging students to find an effective method and use it: "Find out what works for you and protect yourself," she said. "Don't let chance or fate be in charge of something this serious. Take responsibility for your future."
