Yes, college students are having more sex – and they have the STIs ... to wear
the Man Up Monday “Hot Shorts” and flood a popular quad on campus to pass
out.
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Program Guide
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Welcome to the Man Up Monday and Woman Up Monday Movements! Hot campus? Don’t let your students get burned. Help them take steps toward healthier sex lives with Man Up Monday and Woman Up Monday, two provocative campaigns that send a sex-positive message to young people to “man up” or “woman up” and take responsibility for their sexual health. College is an exciting time when young adults start to explore newfound freedoms - staying out late, meeting new people, and having more sex. Yes, college students are having more sex – and they have the STIs to prove it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) young people in the U.S. between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest rates of STIs.1 So what can universities do about it? You have a unique opportunity to educate your students about their sexual health at a time when they are not only most vulnerable to STIs, but when they are still establishing habits regarding their sexual health. The Man Up Monday “flaming boxers” are grabbing the attention of students at universities all over the country – Murray State University, University of Missouri, and many others. Meanwhile, the new Woman Up Monday campaign is attracting pilot sites with materials specifically designed for reaching young women. Encourage your students to take stock of their sexual health by using the information, promotional ideas, and creative materials in this toolkit to launch and promote a Man/Woman Up Monday campaign on your campus. Congratulations on taking the initial steps towards a healthier student body!
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). STI Fact Sheet. http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/STI-Estimates-Fact-Sheet-Feb-2013.pdf © The Monday Campaigns, Inc. 01/14
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Ten ideas for how to promote Man Up and Woman Up Monday on your campus 1 Host testing events each Monday. Collaborate with your local health department to provide tests and staff if your student health clinic is unable to provide tests.
2 Start a testing competition between student groups to see who can get the most members tested. Promote the competition between clubs and fraternities on campus.
3 Organize a Monday condom giveaway. Give away a variety of condoms to show students that they have many options from which to choose.
4 Display Man/Woman Up Monday posters around campus to increase awareness of the campaign. Put them up in bathrooms, locker rooms, libraries, and dorms.
5 Organize a Monday flash mob. Tell participants to wear the Man Up Monday “Hot Shorts” and flood a popular quad on campus to pass out condoms and raise awareness about HIV/STI testing. Tip your school newspaper about the event to encourage coverage.
6 Encourage students to sign the Man/Woman Up Monday pledge to use condoms and get tested for HIV/STIs. Display a chart showing the growing numbers of pledges.
7 Go viral (pun intended!). Share Man/Woman Up Monday tips via Facebook and Twitter and encourage your social media audiences to start recognizing Monday as the day to think about sexual health.
8 Sponsor a Man/Woman Up Monday basketball tournament. Students can sign up for teams and receive Man/Woman Up Monday t-shirts, “Hot Shorts,” condoms, and more as prizes.
9 Have a Monday safe sex fair. Invite student groups and local health organizations to set up booths, including a station for people to get HIV/STI testing and free condoms. Hand out Man/Woman Up Monday “passports” and raffle off prizes for participants who visit all the booths.
10 Host Sexy Trivia on Monday nights. Invite students to create trivia teams and answer questions about sexual health. Include prizes for the winning team.
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Key Benefits of Man Up and Woman Up Monday CAPTURES AN IMPORTANT TARGET AUDIENCE Man/Woman Up Monday has the ability to reach college-age adults, an audience included among those with the highest rates of STIs. Man Up Monday targets young men, who tend to put off taking care of health problems until they become acute, while Woman Up Monday targets young women, encouraging them to take stock of their sexual health. ENCOURAGES EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT One in two sexually active young people will get an STI by the age of 25. Among the 19.7 million new STI cases in the U.S. each year, half of infections are among people between the ages of 15 and 24.2 Even more troublesome is that most people may not even know they have an STI. Many STIs are either treatable or curable if detected early. Left untreated, they may cause serious health issues. For example, chlamydia is easily treated with antibiotics, but left untreated, it can lead to infertility.3 While there is no cure yet for HIV, early detection and promptly starting treatment can block the virus from progressing quickly and further damaging the immune system. Consistent treatment over time can even help reduce the chance of transmitting HIV to others.3 By educating college-aged audiences about safe sex and regular HIV/STI testing, the Man Up Monday campaign helps establish habitual thinking about sexual health to help prevent the spread of HIV and STIs among a population most vulnerable to them. FOSTERS HABITUAL THINKING ABOUT SEXUAL HEALTH Google searches for health and STD-related terms are consistently higher at the beginning of the week and drop off on the weekends. Why is this? We all have a natural weekly rhythm and Monday has special significance as the beginning of the week. In a survey done by Johns Hopkins University, people reported that they mostly see Monday as a day for a “fresh start” and a day to do something good for their own heath – schedule a doctor’s appointment, exercise, start a diet, or quit smoking.5 This reinforces the Man/Woman Up Monday idea that if people make unhealthy sexual decisions over the weekend, they should reflect on those decisions on Mondays and get tested, restock condoms, and prepare to make healthier decisions the following weekend.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). Incidence, Prevalence, and Cost of Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States. http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/STI-Estimates-Fact-Sheet-Feb-2013.pdf 3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). “Chlamydia – CDC Fact Sheet.” http://www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia/STDFact-Chlamydia.htm 4 NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygine. “Early HIV Treatment: Why You Shouldn’t Wait.” http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/ah/early-hiv-treatment-brochure.pdf 5 The Monday Campaigns. http://www.mondaycampaigns.org/images/photos/MondaysResearch_120222.pdf © The Monday Campaigns, Inc. 01/14
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Resources EVALUATION PLANS The free Evaluation Kits includes step-by-step guidelines for how to see the effects of your campaign on your campus. To get yours, contact
[email protected] SOCIAL MEDIA • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ManUpMonday • Twitter: https://twitter.com/ManUpMondays • Website: http://www.ManUpMonday.org EXAMPLES OF PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES • Murray State University: http://campus.murraystate.edu/health/ManUpMonday.html • University of Missouri: http://studenthealth.missouri.edu ADDITIONAL RESOURCES • Planned Parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/std • American College Health Association: http://www.acha.org/topics/sexualhealth.cfm
GRAPHIC RESOURCES To find free Man/Woman Up posters, postcards, social media content, web assets, tips, and more, click the icons below to visit the “free promos” page of our website and select “Man Up Monday.”
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