(KRON) — What do an animated short and a music video have in common? Answer: They are both award winning videos made by Santa Clara County high school students each speaking to fellow teens about how to prevent getting sexually transmitted infections and how they can get tested and treated if they do get a STI.
“It’s important for people our age to become aware of these things that not many people talk about,” said Maria Esquivel, filmmaker.
Esquivel, Leslie Aleman, and Allison Crick were three of the 104 students who submitted entries to the Santa Clara County Health Department for its annual STI viral video contest.
“For us, I feel like the important part was to make it so that people could actually understand what we were going for,” said Aleman, filmmaker. “We were going for to educate people on the importance of protecting yourself.”
The three students who are part of film class at Silicon Valley Career Technical Education ended up taking second place for creating the music video “Wrap It Up.
“We saw a lot of the PSAs from previous years, and a lot of them are kind of more serious,” said Crick, filmmaker. “We thought that if we did something more light-hearted that it would be more impactful.”
Having teens speak to other teens through video is nothing new. The Santa Clara County Health Department has been sponsoring this STI viral video contest since 2014, and with STIs on the upswing for the past 20 years, it’s more important than ever.
“We see across the US that more than half the sexually transmitted infections occur in youth ages 15 to 24,” said Dr. Sarah Rudman, deputy county health officer. “That’s why it’s so important that we reach youth with the messages about the tools and information that are going to help keep them safe and healthy from these infections.”
The winning videos are now online, and the filmmakers hope each viewing and posting, will raise awareness.
