the Informer

Courtesy of Unotes

One university student recently had the chance to be an on-air V-Jay on MTVu, the college-specific division of MTV, to count down her top 10 videos and provide students with information on STD prevention.

MTV has long been in the business of keeping young people informed about pop culture and important issues that they should be aware of.

As part of its Get Yourself Tested campaign, MTVu was looking for students to get involved with STD awareness, prevention and safe sex.

Kayla Washington, a freshman who is also an intern for Planned Parenthood, hosted MTVu’s “Dean’s List,” and the episode aired from April 13 to April 18.

Washington said that seeing students in high school having unprotected sex and the consequences that came from that decision made her want to become a peer educator for Planned Parenthood.

“Not only do I educate others, I practice safe sex and routinely get tested for STDs,” she said on the program.
As part of the program, Washington went to Planned Parenthood and received an STD test to show that getting tested is, “easy, painless and not scary at all,” she said.

Many students do not bother to get tested because of the stigma of being tested and what their friends might think, but “getting tested is not for your friends, it’s for you,” she said in an interview on UNotes.

As a health educator, Washington feels it is important to educate students about STDs and said by the age of 25 one out of every two people having sex will contract an STD.

Getting tested is easy; Washington went to Planned Parenthood and received a blood test and produced a urine sample.
She said, “It is important to come in routinely or when ever you change sexual partners as you can always be at risk to get an STD.”

She believes that people should not be afraid to talk about sex and that people should find someone that they trust to talk about issues associated with STD and safe sex.

When it comes to STD testing she said getting yourself tested is something to be proud of, “and shows that you care about your health,” Washington said.

In trying to build this STD awareness on college campuses, MTV has created a Facebook page for “MTV’s GYT Campus Challenge” and is offering prizes for the campus that can sign up the most students.

For more information on the MTVu Get Yourself Tested program, students and faculty can visit www.itsyoursexlife.com/gyt/campus-challenge or go to www.GYTnow.org. For more information on MTVu, visit www.mtvu.com.