EDITORIAL: COVID-19 created a new age of consent

Sex in the COVID-19 era is a quandary unlike any that modern college kids have faced. A panel held Tuesday night by Boston University admirably welcomed the challenge.

Experts in the field of sexual health discussed a wide range of topics in an attempt to help inform students about the dos and don’ts of having sex in a pandemic. 

It is refreshing to see the University offer a panel like this to the student body. It is rare for a higher education institution to be so open and comfortable about an often taboo subject — the effort is impressive and appreciated.

In addition to the panel, hosted by the Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Center along with Wellness and Prevention Services, the student-led and University-backed campaign F— It Won’t Cut It recently posted a social media guide about sex during a pandemic. It is commendable that the University acknowledges the personal issues students are facing during this time and is offering concrete ways to combat these problems.

This open communication between University staff and students about uncomfortable topics allows for students to feel more secure fulfilling their needs in innovative ways. Ignoring the issue or hoping instead to suppress students’ sex lives would only exacerbate unsafe activity.

While the sex-positive conversations on campus are beneficial to students, there seems to be a misconception that partying and large social gatherings are the only ways for the virus to spread. The virus can be transmitted through nearly any interaction we have with one another — and person-to-person spread doesn’t wait until a large group forms to kick in.

There is a grave intersectionality between our social and sex lives that cannot be ignored.

Contrary to the college norm of wild Friday nights spent kissing and hooking up with random strangers, students must limit their sexual encounters this semester.

We do not have the luxury to be as sexually liberated as we may have been in the past.

Prior to COVID-19, health concerns were still relevant in any sexual relationship. It has always been imperative to discuss physical boundaries, sexually transmitted diseases and other factors involved in an emotional and physical relationship. 

But as Tuesday’s panel emphasized, communication is one of the most important aspects of relationships right now. With a deadly virus rampaging across the world, partners must be on the same page about their lives outside of the bedroom.

Such increased communication has shifted the meaning of consent.

When dating, we must now communicate who we have been around, if we have symptoms of the virus and whether or not we are comfortable getting within six feet of each other. This is in addition to the questions that were already being asked about STDs, contraception, previous sexual partners, etc.

Even in platonic relationships, consent now plays a bigger role in the interactions that once felt so natural. Hangouts can’t be as casual anymore. They must be planned, with a triple-layered barrier between our mouths. We question each other’s social lives before meeting up, and distance ourselves out of fear that the other is a host for our cruel viral enemy. 

We even question how we go about our reunions. An awkward wave hello fills the void of what used to be an innocent, endearing hug. 

While these are typically private matters, more people are now involved your sex life and personal business. Roommates must know when someone is coming over. Friends must know who you have kissed. And those people you kiss must know where you have been as well.

It can be scary to have these conversations, but it is a challenge we need to take head-on.

Be conscious of your impact on the lives of others. The importance of honesty and communication is only amplified in a time when our social lives are completely inhibited and altered.

For now, the days of random hookups are no more. Imagine the horror of testing positive for COVID-19 after being with someone whose name you don’t even remember — contact tracing is then of no help.

And we could all get sent home.

The virus spreads quickly and easily. If we are to successfully stay on campus, then our sex lives need to take a back seat on the road to global health. Stay with the same partner, physically distance when on dates and take into consideration not only your own well being, but the well being of others.

The conversation surrounding safe ways to have sex this semester needs to be spread to a wider audience. Often, students attending panels such as the one SARP hosted, or those who are truly digesting the information presented by campaigns like FIWCI, are the ones already conscientious of the problem.

The University should send an email to its community with tips and digestible information about the safest ways to be sexually active. This is a campus-wide effort, so the information should be spread accordingly.

Parties or prohibited dorm gatherings will not be the only ways campus can get shut down. Don’t let your sex drive sabotage the school year.