Student videos help spread public health message

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Kiefer Wilson and Dan Arriaza are winners of the protect me with 3 video contest funded by the New Jersey Department of Health. The goal is to encourage 3 vaccines recommended for adolescents.

"We felt the best way to do it is peer to peer communication as opposed to your doctor telling you or your parent telling you," said Arpita Jindani of Partnership Maternal/Child Health in New Jersey.

The teens could choose between the meningococcal vaccine for meningitis, the t-dap vaccine for tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough or the hpv vaccine. Both chose HPV.

Both say it took about a week to write and produce their videos. Dan says he was inspired by a friend who had HPV.

"She told me do this cause it's good for everybody else I don't want our friends to have what I have," he said.

The winning videos were chosen online by the public. Kiefer won an iPad 3 and as a runner up, Dan got a $150 gift card. Both said they hope to impact their friends and peers.

"It feels good to educate our own age group because some people - they don't think you can teach your own age group. They put it aside, but if we make videos that you pay attention to, you're going to learn," Wilson said.

Both of them say they are hoping to have careers in music, video or television production.

For more information and to see the videos, please visit http://www.protectmewith3.com/.

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children health, hpv, vaccine, video, health news, dr. sapna parikh

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