Safe Sex: Coming To A Cell Phone Near You!

As sexting gets more popular, safe sexting gets a grant! A series of modern sex ed soap operas have been filmed and distributed via cell phones thanks to an endowment and the commitment of a New Jersey nurse and professor. Rachel Jones, the RN behind the video productions, has spent her career committed to preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS in young women. Sadly, her home state of New Jersey has the highest number of women living with AIDS in the entire U.S. Shockingly, 82% of infections in the 18-to-29-year-old group nationwide are heterosexual African-American ladies and Latinas. Nurse Jones is perplexed by the figures, saying, “It is astounding, it is a completely preventable infection.” So, she has labored for grants to normalize condom use by sending girls text messages. More, after the jump…

Using a smattering of 250 women, some members of the control group will merely be sent a friendly “use a condom” reminder, while others will receive 20-minute-episodes about love and its glove. With a lot of experience caring for patients, Nurse Jones was able to base the dramatized situations on real stories she’s heard over the years. The dozen videos feature scenes that would truly resonate with any woman navigating the dating scene—like the girl who has just taken back her cheating BF, but in this scenario the heroine explains that they have to now use condoms until they both get tested for STDs. It’s a relatable story we’ve all lived or heard before, with a safety-first slant!

Ideally, Nurse Jones hopes cell phone communication will really reach out and touch someone before they touch someone else and will convince young women to always use a condom. Best of all, after the test period is over, the videos will also be available on line.  In the meantime, we can all do our part by making a New Year’s resolution to protect ourselves and the ones we love, by only practicing safe sex!  [MSNBC]