From Chapman, a Creative Take on Teen Sex Risks

The other day in the car, my 15-year-old son, Patrick, and members of his punk rock band happened to be talking about events in Washington. One thing was clear: They had far more than a passing interest in sex.

Which makes you wonder how much sexual curiosity teens might display when a parent isn’t present.

Not that such interest isn’t natural or healthy. But I thought of those teens’ conversation last week as I watched some sex education vignettes put together by student and staff filmmakers at Chapman University in Orange. Their teen minidramas were interesting, but I wondered how this video, called “Making Choices,” would play to its target audience--our teenage sons and daughters.

The filmmakers’ client is the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Foundation, based in Palm Desert, which specializes in assisting abused or neglected children.

The foundation wants to put the Chapman-produced video into the classrooms in its Coachella Valley area, in an attempt to do something about the high rate of teen pregnancy there.

Bob Bassett, dean of Chapman’s School of Film and Television, hopes that it can eventually market the video for a wider range of classrooms, including those in Orange County.

Bassett and his filmmakers, funded by a small grant, excitedly believe they’ve come up with something different from the “standard” sex education documentaries shown to high school students.

“Standard” meaning a nurse or doctor talking in detail about AIDS or venereal diseases. I asked my son what kinds of sex education classes he has attended so far. It was the “standard” stuff.

Here’s how the Chapman video’s three vignettes are set up:

The Barbara Sinatra people suggested they be designed so that the classroom teacher can discuss what has happened before the ending is shown. Chapman decided to refine that concept: None of the vignettes have an ending. The students can decide for themselves what did--or should have--happened.

In two of the vignettes, we males take a pretty good hit. We’re basically viewed as walking hormones. But if you male readers remember those years, maybe you can see their point.

In one of them, a teen girl thinks she’s pregnant, but it turns out she isn’t. The scare leads her to reevaluate the way her boyfriend treats her. (Hint: He’s a moron.)

In another, a teen girl is dressed too maturely for an unchaperoned party where the booze is flowing and her boyfriend wants her alone for sex. She’s wondering what she’s gotten herself into. (Hint: He’s a moron.)

In the third, a teen joins a gang in which new members are all required to have sex with the same girl. After an adult talks to him, he pictures his own sister in that situation and starts having second thoughts about this gang. (Hint: Lots of morons in this one.)

The narrator’s script states: “Let’s get real. The last thing you want to hear is another lecture. . . . So this program is aimed at helping you examine your own choices. There is only one message here--you have to choose.”

My guess is that their teen audiences will quickly let them know whether they see this as a nicely camouflaged “just another lecture.” Still, it’s nice to see someone making an effort to make a difference.

Janell Shearer, a Chapman associate professor of communications who worked on the film, said the gang vignette was based on a true story. Before Chapman hired any actors to go before the camera, it had to do considerable research on its subject--and come to an understanding with the client about what to present. That wasn’t always easy, Shearer said.

The filmmakers wanted to interview some of the young people the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Foundation deals with, to get their views beforehand.

“Too many of the parents got upset,” she said. “We tried to tell them we weren’t going to put their children on camera; we just wanted their ideas for research. But it just didn’t work out.”

The filmmakers settled for dealing with counselors and medical advisors, translating that into teen-acted scenes. Other stumbling blocks:

The Barbara Sinatra people wanted a video about abstinence. Chapman talked them out of that, saying it was too unrealistic. The foundation people also didn’t want any foul language on the video. Again, too unrealistic, Chapman argued. It lost that one.

So, in “Making Choices” you don’t hear teens talking like real teens. Which is too bad.

Scenes with nice-looking teenage boys and girls mouthing four-letter words among themselves, in everyday conversation, would have given this video a jolt of realism.

One of the final touches before this video is ready for distribution is to choose the narrator. Chapman wants someone with distinction whom youngsters can relate to--Gloria Estefan’s name has been mentioned. As you might imagine, the Barbara Sinatra foundation has lots of good contacts in the entertainment world.

Teens watching what Chapman has produced will likely get a chuckle out of the booze party scenes. And there’s a cute shopping scene in which two girls try on new clothes to the tune of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

But once the chuckles are over, will the targeted viewers take to heart what was offered? The narrator says, “Sex changes relationships.” If some in the classroom get that message, then Chapman’s efforts will have been worth it.

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com