The Wasatch and Summit County Teen Council is part of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. The program trains teens as sex educators providing education to peers, church groups and other private organizations. Some of the teens blog during the Sundance Festival specifically writing about films that deal with social issues related to sexual health. Carolyn Murray has this:
Films are identified in advance by teen council teachers and directors. They select Sundance films that resonate with the objectives of their program.
Park City High School student, Maya Levine is one of this years’ 10 Teen Council Bloggers writing about films she’s seen during Sundance. She said it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to see the films and to have been selected to then write about them.
“And, so what does it mean to be a Teen Council member and look at these films and relate to healthy sex ed in Utah. Not even sex ed, but healthy relationships, consent. What is this movie exemplifying to the audience? What is the message? And, then relating that back to the Teen Council mission statement.”
Each teen council member participating in the blogger project selects which of the dozen or so films they want to see. Levine said the film, Share, was a realistic portrayal of what a high school student goes through after being assaulted during a night of heavy drinking.
“Unfortunately, during that night, she was sexually assaulted. And, it shares her story about what she wants to do, like what are the next steps in reclaiming her narrative. I thought it was super powerful. It’s unlike all of the Hollywood films, which I was super glad to see. I think it was a very, very real portrayal of what high schoolers have to go through after a sexual assault, the resources that you may or may not have, about whether it is safe to come out about what happened to you or even if you wanted to. And, it is a hard film to watch because it is so real. However, I think it makes it all the better to show what really happens. I think this film should be shared among all high schoolers to see and to gain a perspective to see what really happens.”
Dalia Gonzalez is the Wasatch and Summit County Teen Council Coordinator. She said the blogger training is in addition to the year-long teen council training.
“All these students commit to a year and they go to a meeting once a week for two hours and a half. And, they receive the training to be able to be a resource to their fellow peers and (talk about) what is sexuality, what is social justice. And, that is why we do try to choose films around sexuality and social justice, like the one that Maya just said about Share.”
The PPAU tumblr blog is another way for teen council members to elevate social and sexuality issues with their peers.
“We know that our teens have this interest and they have received this training all throughout the year regarding these subjects and how they want to go ahead and communicate with other people about the importance about, like sexual assault is not tolerated. Or, that there’s a story to everybody and that people are intersectional.”
The National Planned Parenthood Federation of America along with the Utah Affiliate, PPAU, hosted an event acknowledging the work of film and TV artists who have brought accurate and sensitive story lines about sexual and reproductive health into their work. It was called Sex, Politics, TV and Film.
They also highlighted efforts by the Trump Administration to defund Title 10, which is the way low income women access reproductive health services including birth control, cancer screening and STD testing.
Go to ppauteens@tumblr.com to read about the impressions this years Sundance films had on Summit and Wasatch County teen council bloggers.