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Smart Sex Workshop Outline
12 Steps of Condom Use

Activity Summary:

Participants should understand the reasons behind the steps to properly use a condom.

Preventing STIs and pregnancy are two important reasons to practice safer sex, including using a condom. If you are sexually active, condoms are still one of the best ways to protect against most STIs and can be used for contraception either alone or along with other methods. Other methods alone (pill, diaphragm, IUD) do not protect against STIs.

Instructions:

Place the 16 steps randomly on the board. Explain that there are 12 real steps and 4 steps that don’t actually have anything to do with using condoms properly. Ask the group what they think is the first step. You may have to explain that the first couple of steps happen before the condom even enters the picture. Go through the steps as they identify them in order, asking them about the reasons for each step and making sure the explanations are clear.

The Steps:

It may seem like there’s a lot, but it gets faster with practice. If you try this out first when you’re alone, you’ll be much more comfortable with your partner.

1. Discuss what you’re going to do with your partner - establish consent, make sure you both want the same thing and that condoms and lube will be available if the activities require them.

2. Play, explore and drive them wild without genital contact – the penis needs to be hard for the condom to go on, and this gives both partners a chance to get sexually excited, relaxed, and lubricated (if female).

3. Check the expiration date –condoms are made of latex, which weakens over time, especially when stored in a hot or sunny place. A condom is much more likely to break after the expiry date or when stored in a wallet for a long time or over a radiator. Ask the group where good places to store your condoms would be –like a knapsack, underwear drawer, under the bed, etc.

4. Open the condom without snagging it with nails, jewelry, or teeth – make sure you don’t damage the condom while opening the package. A damaged condom may leak or break.

5. Check which way the condom rolls easily so it goes on right side out – the condom won’t roll on well the wrong way. If you start with the wrong side, you have to throw it out since there will be pre-cum on the outside when you turn it around, and this can cause pregnancy and transmit HIV.

6. Add a drop of lube on the inside of the condom – this increases pleasure for the person wearing the condom, and makes sure that air stays out of the tip when you pinch it.

7. Pinch the tip – this takes out the air and makes space for the ejaculate in the tip, so the condom is less likely to break when he ejaculates. This is one of the most important steps.

8. Roll the condom all the way down to the base of the penis – this makes it less likely to slip off during sex.

9. Add lubricant for slippery, sensual s-excitation – lube feels better for both partners and decreases the chance of condom breakage. The vagina usually produces lubrication when a women’s sexually excited, but this varies from person to person and throughout her menstrual cycle, and it’s always fine to add more. For anal sex, lubrication is essential because the anus has no natural lubrication.

10. Have yourself a good time, adding some water if the lube dries out – water will make water based lube slippery again, and sex is about enjoying yourselves.

11. Guys –pull out before you get limp, holding the base of the condom – If you pull out while still hard, it makes sure no semen leaks out inside your partner, and holding the condom makes sure it doesn’t come off inside while pulling out.

12. Throw the condom and package into the garbage. Never re-use – You can’t reuse any kind of condom, and throwing things in the trash is just plain polite. Not to mention that condoms have been known to clog toilets….

One last thing –condoms stretch. I can make this one fit over both of my hands. Some guys prefer large condoms for comfort, but unless someone has very specific elephantitis, he’ll fit into whatever you have available.

The after step: Bask in the afterglow

The non-steps: Disinfect your earrings. Eat a hearty breakfast. Eat a banana.