Moms Take Teen Sex Talk to YouTube

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Several Bay Area moms, led by JuneBug Films founder Kari Nevil, have teamed up to create the first in a series of YouTube public service videos aimed at attracting pre-teens and teens to sex education websites with accurate and complete information.  

The first YouTube PSA spot entitled Mannequins gets teens' attention with an edgy, visually provocative and frank presentation about the "birds and the bees" ending by directing kids to know the facts by visiting the websites of respected organizations such as PlannedParenthood.org, TeenTalkhttp://www.teentalkca.org/Ca.org and SeriouslySexuality.com.

"Teens are bombarded with messages about sex that are glamorized, inaccurate or boring," says Nevil. "Kids go to the Web to find out about Sex. Mannequins was produced to meet them where they already are and hopefully attract their attention so we can direct them to reliable sex education web sites."

According to a report from 2009 by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), less than half of teen girls and only 35% of teen boys get advice on methods of birth control from their parents. And in an informal poll on SeriouslySexuality.com, 33% of teens said they received their information on HIV/AIDS and other STDs from the Internet.

"If you're teaching them sex ed at thirteen, you're already too late," says Martha Kempner, sex education expert and one of Nevil's advisors on this project. "We have to have faith in young people and their ability to make responsible decisions about their sexual health. They just need our help in finding accurate information and developing critical thinking skills," adds Kempner.

The project came together when former Planned Parenthood board member Adrienne Verrilli met Nevil and introduced her to Teen Talk's Interim Executive Director, Kris Ahmed, and Martha Kempner, a sex ed media pro who's been featured on the Today Show, Fox News and quoted in Seventeen and The New York Times.

To help launch her PSA, Nevil assembled a team of concerned parents onto this all-volunteer effort, including Registered Nurse, Sharon Bozzo, who signed on as an Associate Producer; Leisa and Mark Bates, Co-founders of the award-winning advertising agency, Zoom Creates, donating advertising services;  Michael Pickman-Thoon and Roger Krakow of Rough House Editorial, donating post-production; and Spoken Media founder, Diana Iles Parker, who will take on publicity.

To get involved or for more information, please contact Kari Nevil at [email protected] or visit www.junebugfilms.com.

SOURCE JuneBug Films