YAMI U Workshop White Paper

Introduction

Youth today are hooked on communicating with friends and peers via the new technologies. It does not matter where they live or who they are – all have some access to the latest advances in interactive media (even if somewhat limited). The phenomena are especially true in the U.S. and many Western nations.

Most adults have come to accept that globalization is here to stay even if they do not like the impact it is having on the younger generation. Unlike the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike trying to stop the onslaught of the sea, the international media revolution cannot be halted. It sweeps over every community in great waves despite objections. In fact, it is young people who rush to welcome the latest technological innovations because they desire to be part of a truly interconnected world community of shared ideas, interactions and interests.

American youth take these new tools as a given. Yet, even in remote, developing areas, it is no longer unusual to see teens and youth:

• going online in internet cafes in the Saharan desert

• texting peers across Asian steppes

• sending photos by cell phone from South American hilltops

• posting MySpace messages from African shanty towns

• listening to Bob Marley on mp3 players in Eastern Europe

• emailing friends on distant Pacific islands

The world is rapidly changing and young people are in the vanguard of accepting technology and media as their chosen tool to connect to peers.

Development and implementation of the campaign

Technology is now becoming widely available and at more reasonable cost worldwide. Youth are adopting the new communication media with a zeal not seen in previous generations because they see these technological innovations as “theirs.” When adults need instruction, older people turn to their tech savvy children and younger workers.

This radical reversal of thinking and practice has spawned a bold, new population that is constantly searching for new ways to better communicate their ideas and personal news to their friends – a group that once was centered in their local neighborhoods but now spans the globe.

A truly universal campaign to educate youth on a deadly issue like HIV/AIDS can best be achieved by mobilizing individuals into a movement that maximizes their views and voices. What better way exists than a proposed campaign to encourage youth to utilize their personal handsets and cyberspace networking to reach out to millions? That is a power that has never been witnessed before.

Dr. John Chittick left the classroom fifteen years ago to take to the streets of the world. By directly engaging youth on their own turf, young people joined the struggle to inform their friends about HIV prevention. It became apparent that many were more vulnerable to AIDS because too often, adult-inspired messages did not interest them. Yet even a volunteer humanitarian effort that informed 330,000 youth in over 80 countries was not enough. Millions more needed to be reached to curb the further spread of HIV on a most personal level. It is one thing to sit still and receive a mass message but it is entirely different when a friend personally invites a peer to interact in a worthy campaign.

In 1994, Dr. Chittick designed the internet’s first website targeting teens about HIV/AIDS concerns: (now, www.teenaids.org). Youth were attracted to the pioneer site because they understood that they were getting honest, medically accurate information from a respectable resource -- at a time when the airwaves and early internet were cluttered with contradictory and sometimes misleading information. Teens were encouraged to write questions directly to a trained advisor who gave them the facts.

By 1997, the newly-founded TeenAIDS began an online “Teen Advice Column” that was written by adolescents for their generation. It was an instant success because young people felt they were speaking to an online equal who cared about them. Simple and heartfelt answers were read avidly by curious viewers. As a result, many lives were saved from making mistakes out of ignorance.

Yet, even these advances were not enough when every year, millions of new children begin adolescence, puberty and sexual initiation – joining the ranks of at-risk youth. Because emerging data has showed that 50% of all new cases of HIV occur among those in ages of 12 to 24 (UNAIDS, Geneva), a more proactive methodology was urgently needed.

That model is a peer-led movement using technology as the main tool. Commencing in 2006, TeenAIDS began its annual global webcasts on HIV/AIDS trainings and information sharing. Youth are involved in the live discussions by phone, text messaging, emails and website interaction. The organization made its commitment to this innovation because the audience could be expanded multi-fold and featured youth taking charge of the technology to further their generation’s health. The first webcast was from central Massachusetts with viewers in over 120 countries; the 2007 webcast originated from Harvard University; 2008 was from Kinshasa, Congo; and the 2009 webcast is again coming from Massachusetts. The Tony Cox Community Fund has helped underwrite the costs of the last two events.

Barriers

In an ideal world, there should be no barriers to affordable and easy access to universal communication that helps people stay in touch, survive and succeed. For decades, the landline telephone was the primary mode of personal interaction. Reaching out to someone via phone was a small but necessary price to pay to maintain a friendship. For many youth, this service was an expense usually borne by the parents but also under their watchful eyes.

Now the latest technological advances are offering a tremendous range of services and options. Some are not too expensive while others are costly. More young people are bearing the cost of the medium they choose, often a few different ones. While wealthier youth can buy every device, others have to pick and choose what they can afford. However, most all youth put a premium on technology as a way to stay in touch and so it is not unusual to see underprivileged teens owning their own cell phones. Because many cannot afford personal computers, their on-line interaction is limited to internet cafes, libraries or other venues. This scenario is especially true in most of the world at the beginning of the 21^st Century.

A national campaign to spread the HIV/AIDS prevention message is much easier to realize in North America because of technology. The same can be said for Western Europe and parts of Asia (Japan, Singapore, etc.). Television, the internet and wireless communication are growing exponentially.

Yet, international HIV/AIDS campaigns must deal with the issue of youth access to affordable technology. Young people have the will but many still lack the means. Blackberries, iPods, mp3 players, and telephone/internet contracts can be prohibitive. This situation remains a major barrier.

Another troublesome barrier is cultural and societal – even religious. Again, in places like the U.S., a long history of free speech and minimal government regulation exists. Teens have access to the best – and the worse that technology can offer (pornography and on-line stalking being a problem). The world wide web is the equalizer because it is international but in some countries (China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, etc.) sites are banned and internet access is strictly monitored. This censorship happens for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, TeenAIDS and its volunteers have experienced first hand the denial of disseminating medically accurate AIDS information to vulnerable youth by governments, politicians and religious leaders.

Cultural considerations that are restrictive are also problematic. Societal taboos prevent young females from having equal access to technology especially in regions where they cannot attend schools or go to inferior ones. They do not receive critical HIV education. For campaigns to be truly effective in reaching the younger generation, they must be peer-led by volunteers who are dedicated to spreading the prevention message to every individual.

While barriers are present, the latest advances in technology can overcome local and national censorship and many of the cost considerations. The key is to press ahead and find innovative ways to allow teens to use their hand held devices and the power of the internet.

Global webcasts are extremely expensive because of the cost of satellite time to uplink the “live” broadcasts. Virtual (real time) interaction requires more manpower at greater expense. As technology explodes, costs will come down but for present, they remain high and prohibitive for most non-profits.

Lessons learned

Youth deeply desire to be connected with friends at all times -- much more than any other generation. They are incredibly resourceful. TeenAIDS has discovered that empowered youth are the best messengers to carry the HIV prevention message to members of their generation. Peer-led teaching is the most effective means to grab the attention of youth because they share mutual concerns and they can communicate with little or no adult supervision or objections. Privacy is very important to youth. The new technologies provide this better than adults realize.

In cyberspace, youth are speaking the “same language.” Visuals like the photos sent by cell phone speak 1,000 words. Videos on You Tube are easy to post, download and view. MySpace and Facebook pages use minimal text so that a viewer can learn a lot about a stranger with virtually no understanding of the host’s native tongue. Youth employ verbal short cuts and staccato phrases when sending emails and text messaging that are universally recognizable to them.

Intimate information dealing with sexuality and HIV transmission is more easily accepted by youth through cyberspace because they can do so in relative privacy – in a flash of a click, anything offensive or highly personal is hidden/deleted from prying eyes.

TeenAIDS’ website offers instant translation in fourteen major languages and the global webcasts bring visuals of young people to a wider audience. Unlike adult lectures where they feel forced to listen to teachers in school or parents in the home, young viewers choose to watch and absorb critical information that can save their lives. Instead of going in one ear and out the other, teens accept the good advice from trained peers because they see technology as offering them an accessible and instant support network.

The Tony Cox Community Fund has helped finance the creation of two public service announcements that were written, acted, filmed and produced by youth. The two PSAs “Pool Party” and “Dance Party” have been shown across the U.S. generating buzz among teens especially – a positive result through the generous support of the cable industry.

Over the years, a common complaint of adults has been that young people vegetate in front of the boob tube. Now they complain about the hours spent in front of their computer screens. For all the negatives one hears about television and the internet, it is apparent that many young people are interacting more with a wider circle of associates on substantive concerns than previous generations. Their reading and language skills may have suffered in the last twenty years but their ability to use sophisticated technology to build a better sense of community is arguably better. Can improvements be made? Definitely, yes! TeenAIDS has demonstrated that new avenues can be designed and implemented that benefit youth. YAMI U is a pioneer leader in this effort.

Results of your endeavors

The partnership with Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Community Fund has helped provid TeenAIDS with the resources to put into action the beginning steps in a growing national and international campaign to foster a greater sense of community among young people. The result is the PeerCorps model that is currently helping to slow down the rapid spread of HIV at a time when studies show that adult concern over the AIDS issue is on the wane.

Building a broader sense of community through technology means better health and longer, more productive lives -- and incredibly perhaps, the prospect of future world peace. As young people get to know their brethren far and wide, parochial concerns disappear in cyberspace when one’s closest friend could live 10,000 miles away. It will be more difficult to promote racial discord, war, sexism, religious intolerance and cultural differences when teens grow up with a friendlier understanding of their peers in foreign lands. In that respect, it just might be that technology will do for the world what politicians, presidents and potentates have not been able to do. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful result?

TeenAIDS mission statement stresses that it is the human right of every maturing adolescent to have open and honest access to all medically accurate information about HIV/AIDS. Life-saving facts cannot be denied them for any reason because we are dealing with innocent lives at risk. With no cure for AIDS and no vaccine to prevent HIV, only education can help stop the spread of this youth pandemic that is currently rising to record levels. Based on his Harvard University doctoral research, Dr. Chittick has developed an effective solution. Using technology that he first utilized at MIT, he has tested and promoted a workable plan that empowers teens and youth to take responsibility for their health and lives on all six continents.