What happens when you get motivated design students to care about the safety of other students at their local high schools? Magic.

Columbia College Chicago (the alma mater of yours truly) is taking the safer sex community to the next level-- buy helping integrate safer sex into their community by using a 2010 grant received by Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Department of Health from the federal government as part of the Condom Availability Program-- to enlist high school students as condom dispenser designers.

The program was founded in the early 21st century and means to provide condoms to those in major U.S. cities who are at a high risk to spread STDs or to mistakenly become pregnant. We’ve already written about the benefits and advances of these programs, in particular with NYC who are now offering their free condoms in larger sizes, and the awesomeness that is the Rubber Revolution in DC.

At Columbia, the Art + Design Department chipped in through the Product Design IV class of spring 2013. Over 50 students from multiple classes came up with designs, with senior student Sam Shapiro winning the high honor of having his design selected for production. Shapiro hopes that his design will have a positive impact on the acceptance of condoms in the public realm-- which will have a positive impact on the health of our students.

The more we open up this discussion, the more these kids will learn how to protect themselves from the ravages of STDs and the woe of unwanted pregnancy. As was shown in Thailand, the implementation of such an openness about safe sex can only lead to great things-- decreases in poverty and increases in way of life.

The coolest thing about Shapiro's dispensers? Not only is there an option for dispensing male condoms, but the FC2 Female Condom has its own dispenser. It wasn’t until I was a student at Columbia myself that I even knew what a female condom was! These high school kids are lucky.

No word on if other sizes or types of condoms will be available for those students with latex or lube allergies. Although if we know anything about high school boys, we’re sure the Trojan Magnum XLs wouldn’t last very long-- and probably wouldn’t be used correctly.

So far, two schools have installed the condom dispensers. More, hopefully, will be on the way soon, pending the decisions of their principals. The program cannot force each school to place the dispensers in their hallways, but with the statistics for teen pregnancy on a steep decline, programs like the Condom Availability Program can only improve the lives and health of our students.