University packing lists including condoms: is this now standard advice?

[Maybeshesbornwithitmaybeitssertraline]

My ds2 has got his essential packing list for university, including condoms. I know, better to do it safely than not but really?

When I was 18 you only needed condoms if you were in a long term relationship. Is it so different these days?

I'll admit that I'm struggling with the idea that my 18 year old us old enough to go to university so the idea of him needing condoms as well is a bit out of my comfort zone.

I am 75 and think this is a sensible thing to have on the list . I remember no access to terminations or the morning after pill , very sad times for girls trying to abort in my younger days .

My mum gave me a pack of condoms when I started uni in 1998 so nothing new!

There were deffo conforms in our freshers welcome packs when I began uni in 1999.

My drs was the university practice and they had baskets to help yourself. Whilst I don’t think parents need to be buying them, the list remember for the young person and it reinforces the safe sex message

I went to university around the time of the Black Death and they were on the list back then.

We got given free condoms in my first week at uni in 2000.

Of course it is. Always has been.

We all had condoms given in the university welcome packs back in 1986. My son too in 2017. It's normal and sensible.

No packing list that I can remember back in the 90s but freely handed out in the student union and health centre.

If you really can’t abide the idea of your precious innocent darling needing them, perhaps a more acceptable mindset might be that it could be a lifesaver (literally, in terms of STDs) if a friend or dorm-mate is without and knocks on the door to ask if he has any to spare.

And with a lot more transmission of STDs.

When I was 18 you only needed condoms if you were in a long term relationship. Is it so different these days?

Really? You're probably somewhere-ish around the same age as me - 40's. You don't think casual sex was a thing amongst your peers? You may not have been doing but it's very naïve to think nobody was having casual sex, especially when at uni.

Its been standard advice for decades @Maybeshesbornwithitmaybeitssertraline.

My ds hasn’t had a girlfriend yet but I still bought condoms. Better safe than sorry and ..errr, better he figure out how they work before the moment arises.

What is your objection - morals ? Or are you just not coping with the idea your little boy is a man?

Mine is 6’2”. There is no escaping the fact.

When I was 18 you only needed condoms if you were in a long term relationship. Is it so different these days?

What year was that then? I very much doubt that is true. Maybe that applied to you and your friendship circle but I assure you teenagers have been having sex outside of long term relationships for decades

I went to university in 1972 and I didn’t even know what a condom was - due to a Catholic Convent education. Fortunately a medical student gave me some supplies! We could get the pill as well, but we did have to say we were in a long term relationship for that.

Condoms should definitely be in the packing list, along with a home made cake - great for making new friends in Hall.

Outstanding 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

They were given out at my uni 30 odd years ago and it wasn't shocking then.

I started uni just as they identified AIDS and there were ads on the telly featuring tombstones, with the catch line “don’t die of ignorance”.

It scared the shit out of 18yo me but condoms were included in every freshers pack. I wasn’t celibate for long.

Medicine has moved on a little but the message still applies.

Me and my mates weren’t having sex but knew others did, better to have just incase.

wait what? Unis send packing lists?

I got the pill in 71 at the local family planning clinic. I had to prove my age because I looked young but was asked nothing about my relationship.

I went to university in 1995 and my “welcome to uni” pack (distributed by the university) included campus maps, leaflets from societies, etc and a packet of condoms.

Neither I nor my (religious and conservative) parents were at all surprised to see that condoms were being given out, so it’s odd to me that you are surprised!

Condoms are a useful addition to the luggage of any student as they a) prevent pregnancy in women, provided they are not pricked by a pin or other sharp implement b) do battle with sexually transmitted infections c) keep students away from pharmacies and machines in public houses, night clubs and discoteques, where they would embarrass themselves by asking for them or inserting coins in the machine d) double up as balloons at parties, where they can be tied at the neck with string and hung from the curtain rails in student halls or feilled with water and used to spray your new friends.

Does the packing list specify condom type - ribbed, flavoured, coloured?

I’m in my 40s and they used to hand them out when I started uni 25 years ago 🤷‍♀️

Is a safety and security issue - even if you think your child is not sexually active, others will be. It’s best not to be squeamish about it and just remind your DC to be careful if they start seeing anyone.

BTW It’s not actually down to parents to coordinate the packing lists - they are intended for the students to look at curate what’s relevant to them. They’re adults. You can help to get stuff on the list with them, but it’s the first step in adulthood that they take some responsibility themselves for their packing list… and that includes medical and health supplies, such as condoms.

OP were you 18 over a hundred years ago?? of course they should take condoms. Surely they have access to condoms in your home already, if you have any sense.