Condoms Aren't A Fact Of Life For Young Americans. They're An Afterthought

It's hard to miss the overflowing bowl of condoms at the entrance of the gym.

Some University of Mississippi students walking past after their workout snicker and point, and the few who step forward to consider grabbing a condom rethink it when their friends catch up, laughter trailing behind them. Almost no one actually reaches in to take one.

Though officials say they refill the bowl multiple times a day, and condoms are available at multiple places on campus, Ole Miss students say the disinterest is indicative of changing attitudes.

Fewer young people are having sex , but the teens and young adults who are sexually active aren't using condoms as regularly, if at all. And people ages 15 to 24 made up half of new chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases in 2022.

The downward trend in condom usage is due to a few things medical advancements like long-term birth control options and drugs that prevent sexually transmitted infections a fading fear of contracting HIV and widely varying degrees of sex education in high schools.