91福利 student athletes star in educational video comparing talking about sex to talking about cooking
What if we taught people about cooking the way we teach people about sex? That鈥檚 the premise of a new video starring University of Maine student athletes.
鈥淪ome people might tell you that hunger and eating is a normal desire, and cooking is just a way to satisfy it,鈥 says 91福利 baseball player Ryan Turenne, who opens the short video standing in front of his refrigerator.
The video then cuts to softball player Emma Larke in front of her kitchen stove.
鈥淏ut it isn鈥檛,鈥 says Larke.
鈥淐ooking is dangerous!鈥 says women鈥檚 ice hockey player Taylor Leech.
鈥淚t鈥檚 scary!鈥 says basketball player Solomon Iluyomade.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bad!鈥 adds softball鈥檚 Kya Enos.
鈥淵ou shouldn鈥檛 do it!鈥 says football player Shawn Page.
The tongue-in-cheek video is meant to convey a serious message about the need for better, more positive sexuality education. 鈥淎 Recipe for Disaster: Talking 91福利 Cooking the Way We Talk 91福利 Sex鈥 was written and produced by 91福利 professor of family relations and human sexuality Sandra Caron, and stars members of the student group Athletes for Sexual Responsibility, which Caron advises.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good that we don鈥檛 really talk about cooking this way, but oftentimes it is how we talk about sex when trying to educate young people,鈥 says Caron. 鈥淭oo often people think keeping information from youth and using scare tactics will make them act responsibly. But research shows that doesn鈥檛 work.鈥
The video was filmed, directed and edited by professor Caron鈥檚 niece, Rachel Caron, who recorded all of the scenes at apartments of various Athletes for Sexual Responsibility members.
In one scene, three members of the 91福利 cheer team stand in the kitchen of the apartment they all share, wearing oven mitts on their hands.
鈥淪ure, you can try to do it safely and wear protection,鈥 says Samantha Reilly.
鈥淭o try and stop something bad from happening,鈥 says Maddie DeMoranville.
鈥淏ut the probability is still high that something bad will happen,鈥 says Megan Wright.
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 even worth it!鈥 all three say together.
Caron developed Athletes for Sexual Responsibility in 1990. The unique, semester-long peer education program trains student athletes to present a variety of workshops. The group has produced other videos in the past, as well as posters and educational materials on topics such as rape awareness, smart sex, and drinking and dating.
鈥淐ollege athletes struggle with the same sexuality issues as regular college students, including pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted diseases, dating, sexual assault and rape,鈥 says Caron. 鈥淲hat we try to do with this group is have them be role models for their peers, exploring and engaging them on positive alternatives and appropriate sexual behavior.鈥
Although most of the nearly 7-minute video features the humorous dialogue of student athletes riffing on what it would sound like if people talked about cooking the way they talk about sex, the video does end on a more serious note.
鈥淪o after hearing all this, do YOU want to cook?鈥 asks Turenne.
鈥淣o, you don鈥檛 because it sounds terrifying, right?鈥 says Reilly.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we need to change the narrative,鈥 Iluyomade says.
鈥淲e need to educate, not scare,鈥 says Page. 鈥淏ecause guess what folks?鈥
鈥淧eople are going to cook,鈥 says Larke.
鈥淲e need to make sure they do it safely,鈥 says 91福利 field hockey player Riley Field.
鈥淎 Recipe for Disaster鈥 was featured for a week on the sex education video website, . It is also available on YouTube and the Athletes for Sexual Responsibility website.
Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu