The Big Picture is a dynamic community outreach and health educational tool focused on promoting adolescent health and wellbeing. These videos are designed to raise awareness of health trends and common challenges experienced during adolescence, promote positive health choices, and encourage teens and parents to reach out for help when needed.
Perhaps most amazingly, these are the words and perspectives of teens themselves. Videos are written and performed by high school students in the Charlotte, NC community. Students learn about these topics from Teen Health Connection’s health educators while reviewing data from the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Youth Online: High School YRBS – Home Page | DASH | CDC)
Special thanks to Kim Brattain Media and Shane Manier for helping Teen Health Connection share the powerful voices of our Charlotte teens.
Behavioral Health
The following vignettes discuss topics of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide, which might be especially troubling for some viewers. We hope that by talking about these topics, we can have more open dialogue with teens about behavioral health and the importance of reaching out for help. If you or someone you love has thoughts of suicide or self-harm, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 9-8-8. This number works like 911 for a mental health emergency.
Behavioral Health Videos
Substance Use Prevention
The following vignettes include discussions of substance use and addiction, which might be especially troubling for some viewers. At Teen Health Connection, we encourage teens to take charge of their health and lead a drug and alcohol-free adolescence. In the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, information is powerful, and our friends and families are our most important allies. You can make more of a difference than you know
Substance Use Prevention Videos
Healthy Relationships and Reproductive Health
The vignettes you are about to see address topics of sex, reproductive health, and dating violence. Even if you are not in a relationship, or you do not plan being sexually active anytime soon, it is important to understand what a healthy relationship looks like and to have conversations about protection, safety, and consent.
Healthy Relationships and Reproductive Health Videos
Bias and Disparities
In this country and around the world, we see differences in health outcomes and life experiences, disparities that can be scientifically predicted just by someone’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Access to care, support, and environments that understand and remedy these differences can have positive impacts on health outcomes. To illustrate these differences in life experiences, the following vignettes include discussion of racism and violence, which might be especially troubling for some viewers.
Bias and Disparities Videos
Adolescent Health
The following vignettes you are about to see discuss topics of body image and lifestyle choices. Today, it is hard to escape the messages that impact our sense of health and body image. From social media, advertisements, and so called “influencers,” every day we are bombarded with information and misinformation. It is important to develop a better understanding of the nutrition and lifestyle choices that are related to positive health outcomes.
