Teens fight HIV with video cameras

NORFOLK, Va (WAVY) - A group of teen volunteers met at Oceanview Beach in Norfolk on July 18 to make a video about a topic many try to avoid.

It's a low budget shoot, but the volunteer actors hope a new PSA on HIV prevention will have a big impact.

"If we could at least get one person to think about this then maybe they could tell two people and then they could tell two people," said Alyssa Gizinski.

The message is to protect yourself from HIV and AIDS.

Teen AIDS-PeerCorps Executive Director, Dr. John Chittick explained the concept of the PSA; the setting is a beach party where boy meets girl, boy tries to pick up girl, and boys friend intervenes, "and what he does is he slaps a condom in the boy's hand it's done very quickly and that's the end of the public service announcement."

Besides the beach party background, there's another reason the group chose to shoot in Norfolk. Hampton Roads has some of the highest STD rates in the state.

Eastern Virginia has the state's highest proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS according to the Virginia Department of Health, and a recent Centers For Disease Control report ranked Hampton Roads second highest for chlamydia and third for gonorrhea among all US metropolitan areas.

"One of my friends she got aids and she was actually in the hospital for awhile," Gizinski added.

Her friend is just 17-years-old.

Volunteer actor Dyvontae Pierc said, "I feel like teens want to know they just don't want to hear it from adults".

The group thinks that if teens see their peers talking and protecting themselves there will be more situations like the one depicted in the PSA, and fewer regrets like Gizinski's friend has.

"The only thing she says is she wishes she was more careful she wishes she knew about it, wishes she'd talked about it," said Gizinski.

The PSA will air on Facebook and YouTube and the group hopes it will also air on local television.