1 In 5 Youngsters Forget To Use Protection During Drunk Sex, Says Study.

1 In 5 Youngsters Forget To Use Protection During Drunk Sex, Says Study.

I love the positive effects of alcohol: the joy of sipping from a glass of chilled beer on a hot summer afternoon, unwinding with gin and tonic post a hectic work week and feeling all pumped up partying with friends while gulping down Jägerbomb shots. It’s like treating yourself to a spa day. I like to have a healthy relationship with alcohol, which is why I avoid drinking when I am heartbroken. It’s taken a few incidences for me to realise that a heartbroken me and a drunk me is, as a matter of fact, a terrible combo.

However, I am way too protective of myself and my friends, even when drinking. Especially when drinking. It’s probably because when I was younger, I understood that it’s easier to take advantage of you when you’re not in your senses. Drunk sex is a thing and sometimes, women are too intoxicated to even think clearly – do they want to consent to it? Or are they too tired to think? Maybe you just go along with it because you’re too drunk. The next day, it’s an ocean of regret because the guy you slept with is not even half as cute when you’re sober. And what happened, didn’t happen with mindfulness.

But that’s not it. Drunk sex, has far serious implications. If you can’t remember where you left your shoes, who paid the bill, the drunken selfies you clicked or how you twerked on Buss It, how can you remember protection while doing it? Worse is when you wake up the next day and you have no idea whether you guys used a condom or relied on the very unreliable pull-out method. It’s unreliable enough when he is sober, when he is drunk, it’s panicville!

Honestly, I was never in such a situation, because when I get drunk, I just go to sleep. I need to be feeling fresh to do anything remotely sexy. So when we were discussing contraception and drunken sex at Hauterfly yesterday, I almost went like, ‘Whaaaat? That shouldn’t be so common!’ Turns out, I was wrong!

According to a study, one-fifth of youngsters forget to use contraception during drunk sex. The study by OnePoll had 1200 participants between 16 to 25 years and it found out that youngsters indulge in risky sexual behaviours due to a lack of “knowledge, education and intoxification.” Every four in 10 individuals agreed to have had sex when drunk and 13 % of them have no idea whether they used protection or not. It’s one thing to be so drunk you forget using a condom and another to have no recollection of the events last night. Did we use it? Did we not? Either way, it all boils down to risky sexual behaviour and often ends up in unwanted pregnancies. Popping an emergency contraceptive pill every time isn’t a good deal either.

“We need to arm our young people with as much information as possible before they get to the point where they are experimenting with sex and drink,” said Joanna Buckard, a spokeswoman for The National Organisation for FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) in the UK. “It would seem that while sex education in schools covers broad topics such as the mechanics of having sex and what happens to your body through puberty, we are still failing our young people by not going into more detail about the consequences of certain behaviours,” Buckard added.

When I was younger, I had no idea how alcohol affects our bodies. The tips and tricks that help you stand alert even when drinking a lot, how to not become a pukey, knowing when to stop, why we shouldn’t be mixing drinks, etc. Many youngsters are learning about alcohol, consent, sex and pregnancy while at it and mistakes happen! Only 15 % of youngsters are taught about alcohol and its impact in school. “While 45 per cent of young adults remember learning about contraception, and 48 per cent about changes in their body, just 19 per cent had teachers educate them on what you can and can’t do before and during pregnancy,” the report read.

“They are therefore reaching adulthood completely clueless about how much alcohol consumption counts as binge drinking, what impact drinking before and during sex could have, how to have a healthy pregnancy and what consequences there could be if you drink during pregnancy. The vast majority don’t know it risks lifelong brain damage to an unborn baby. This is evidenced through the 85 per cent who said they didn’t learn about the risks of alcohol in pregnancy at school. We need to arm our young people with as much information as possible before they get to the point where they are experimenting with sex and drink,” Buckard explained.

The study also found that young adults are embarrassed to talk about these “taboo” topics with their parents. Four in 10 youngsters said they would not speak about these things with their parents. 33 % said they weren’t comfortable with the conversation, 25 % of people said sex wasn’t an acceptable topic of discussion at home and 24 % said they don’t want their parents to know about their personal lives.

Well, you can’t really blame them! Would I go and talk to my parents about drunk sex? Or drinking and sex as separate subjects? It’s a recipe for disaster! First, you’ll get a low down on sanskaars, then they will tell you how they were such nice traditional individuals when your age and lastly, they will probably look at you with suspicion each time you step out. All this, if your desi parents are lenient, otherwise you can expect anything ranging from a chappal to a hot pan to a bullet coming your way. Depending on whether your parents are more like Niharika NM’s mom or those that make the headlines for honour killing.

ALSO READ: 5 Reasons Why Having Sex When You’re Drunk Out Of Your Mind Is A Terrible Idea

Either way, drunk sex has consequences and it is definitely not a good idea. Relying on the morning after pill instead of condoms isn’t a good idea either since it affects your body and has side effects. “It’s the furthest thing from their minds because we are not connecting the dots for them between boozy nights, sex and unplanned pregnancy. In fact there are so many unknowns, largely due to a lack of communication and sharing about things which are considered taboo,” explains Buckard.

ALSO READ: Throwback Thursday: 5 Bollywood Movies That Opened A Dialogue About Out Of Wedlock Pregnancies

Akanksha Narang

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