Promoting Youth STD/HIV Awareness in Baltimore City Through Health Department-sponsored Student Video Contest

Background:
Efforts to encourage youth STD/HIV awareness in Baltimore City have been limited to presentations at public schools, health clinics, and other educational venues. Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) and Baltimore City Public School System explored the idea of initiating projects that would involve students in promoting STD/HIV awareness.

Objective:
To create and implement a youth project that focuses on STD/HIV awareness and education.

Method:
In partnership with the school system, BCHD held a video contest open to students in the public school system. Students in grades 6-12 had the opportunity to create a script and video that depicts important information about STD/HIV symptoms, prevention, awareness, and treatment.

Result:
Eleven schools submitted sixteen videos for judging by a review panel. All videos were shown at the STD/HIV Prevention Hoopla Tournament - an event sponsored by one of our Syphilis Elimination grantees and a NBA player's community foundation. Plans call for showing the videos at various youth venues and our STD clinics.

Conclusion:
Initiating and supporting projects with youth and school involvement provide a wonderful opportunity for young people to demonstrate their understanding of an important health issue that may affect members of their family, their friends, or themselves.

Implications:
Evidence is clear that collaborations between health departments and school systems, with parental support, provide educational and health benefits to our youth population when discussing STD/HIV issues. Future research and evaluation must monitor how effective youth projects and programs will have an impact in reducing the number of STD cases among this population.