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Killing Off Cancer?
 There's been a lot of hype about the new HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer and is being recommended for girls ages 9 to twenty-six. Many states around the country are considering mandating it, including Texas and California. Skeptics of the vaccine are speaking up from different sides of the political spectrum. Some claim the vaccine will encourage early sexual activity. Others raise questions about how the vaccine’s manufacturer might be profiting from its mandatory use. Meanwhile young women and their parents are trying to sort through all the information to decide whether or not they should get the vaccine. Youth Radio's Alana Germany is one of those young women:
I learned about cervical cancer in health class, but it never seemed like that big of a deal. Now I see these commercials, and the statistics about how many people will be affected by HPV and how it can lead to cervical cancer and...well...it’s all shocking.
I’m wondering – should I get the vaccine?
Click here to find the full script and audio for this story.
Teach Youth Radio
For this month's feature, you will be able to view these strategies and resources:
1. How teachers can align this Youth Radio story to National Standards in the classroom.
2. Suggestions for lesson plans that link the story's content to your classroom's themes and subject areas.
3. Suggestions for lesson plans that explore media literacy, using the story to re-read mainstream media.
4. Bios of the Youth Radio reporters who produced the story.
5. A list of resources and further research related to the story's themes.
6. Links to Youth Radio’s media production techniques as guides and inspiration for your students’ creative media-making projects.
1. NATIONAL STANDARDS: Standards Alignment
Subject: LANGUAGE ARTS
NL-ENG.K-12.1 READING FOR PERSPECTIVE
NL-ENG.K-12.2 UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
NL-ENG.K-12.3 EVALUATION STRATEGIES
NL-ENG.K-12.6 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE
NL-ENG.K-12.7 EVALUATING DATA
NL-ENG.K-12.8 DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
NL-ENG.K-12.9 MULTICULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
NL-ENG.K-12.11 PARTICIPATING IN SOCIETY
Subject: LIFE SCIENCE
NS.9-12.6 PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES
Subject: HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.1 HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION
NPH-H.9-12.2 HEALTH INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
NPH-H.9-12.3 REDUCING HEALTH RISKS
NPH-H.9-12.4 INFLUENCES ON HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.7 HEALTH ADVOCACY
Subject: ECONOMICS
NSS-EC.9-12.1 SCARCITY
NSS-EC.9-12.2 MARGINAL COST/BENEFIT
NSS-EC.9-12.3 ALLOCATION OF GOODS AND SERVICES
NSS-EC.9-12.4 ROLE OF INCENTIVES
NSS-EC.9-12.5 GAIN FROM TRADE
NSS-EC.9-12.7 MARKETS -- PRICE AND QUANTITY DETERMINATION
NSS-EC.9-12.8 ROLE OF PRICE IN MARKET SYSTEM
NSS-EC.9-12.9 ROLE OF COMPETITION
NSS-EC.9-12.13 ROLE OF RESOURCES IN DETERMINING INCOME
NSS-EC.9-12.14 PROFIT AND THE ENTREPRENEUR
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2. NEWS YOU CAN USE: Story content in your classroom, Suggestions for lesson plans
Language Arts:
Diverse perspectives:
Alana draws on a range of sources in this story to develop her understanding of the HPV vaccine. Have students “map” the perspectives offered in the piece—an exercise that will sharpen their ability to identify and then question various “points of view.” List these characters on the board or a hand-out: Alana, the Teen Wire website, Sarah’s mom, the Centers for Disease Control, Curry, and Taylor. Pose these questions, “What is each character’s position with respect to the HPV vaccine? On the basis of what evidence do you know each character’s position? What perspectives aren’t represented? What more do you want to know?
New voices: Building on the previous exercise, have students identify one source they’d like to hear from to learn more about the HPV vaccine (e.g., the agency that produced the HPV vaccine “One Less” PSA campaign, a conservative group concerned about teen sexual activity, a doctor who administers the vaccine, a medical insurance company about whether the vaccine is covered…). Working in small groups, have students do research to find a new source, develop a series of questions related to the story, and interview that source. See Youth Radio’s “tips from the newsroom” in this News Break for help preparing students to conduct interviews. Please send your findings to Youth Radio, via lissa@youthradio.org and dawnw@berkeley.edu.
Collaborative storytelling: The “back announce” to Alana Germany’s piece says, “This story was produced with help from Sarah Beth McKay, Emma Din and Rebecca Gittelson in Atlanta, and the students from Youth Spin in Austin, Texas.” Three different youth media organizations across the country collaborated in producing this story. It’s an interesting model for students to consider as they undertake projects where individual students contribute to a single narrative. One of the biggest challenges with this kind of work is integrating young people’s various “elements” into a coherent story. Have students identify a topic in their community that’s kicking up controversy. Working in teams, have them come up with a task list (interviews and research) and then distribute the responsibilities across the group. Once they’ve completed their “field work,” have them come back and present to the class in a collaborative demonstration of what they learned.
Health and Science:
Virus and cancer: Something surprising in Alana Germany’s report is the connection she reveals between a virus girls can contract at a young age, and the development of cervical cancer many years later. This connection is a powerful way to help students understand: 1. What a virus is and how it operates, 2. What cancer is and how it develops and runs a course, and 3. The relationship between viruses and cancer.
Health and gender: This Youth Radio story draws attention to a link between cancer and a virus transmitted through sex. Some STD’s affect men and women differently. HPV is a source of more health problems for women than men. Students can form research groups to find images and articles about different STD’s and present their findings to the class
Vaccination Time: When thinking about the side effects and the relatively short period of time that Gardasil has been tested, Alana expresses some ambivalence about getting the vaccine. Have students look into the history of medical testing, including the landmark Tuskegee Syphilis study and other experiments on human bodies that have gone bad, as well as testing that has lead to health breakthroughs. What do students consider the key criteria defining ethical medical testing? How does that list compare with U.S. government policy and law in this area?
Health Care for All: Alana talks about the issue of health care not being available to everyone. Students can research and compare different proposals for universal health care and find out which countries currently implement this system.
Got shots?: What is the difference between the Chicken Pox and Human Papilloma Virus? Students can discuss the difference between getting a vaccination for a disease that can be contracted via non-sexual versus sexual interactions. They can further debate whether the government should require a vaccination for HPV.
Economics:
Business of Health: Check out this article in the business section of the New York Times, called, “Merck to halt lobbying for vaccine for girls”. Read this article carefully with students. How much does the HPV vaccine cost? Who pays? Who profits from making the vaccine mandatory—defining profit in terms of health benefits and financial benefits? Who is placed at risk—again, defining risk in terms of health and money? Why did Merck decide to stop pushing for the vaccine to be mandatory? How did money factor in this decision?
Search Engine Optimization: See “Media Search” below for a lesson idea aimed to help students understand the economics of the digital landscape.
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3. CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY: Putting This Story in Context
Media Search: In the opening lines of her story, Alana Germany says, “You can find anything on Google, right?” What search terms would students use to find out about the HPV vaccine? Working with the entire class, brainstorm a list of possible terms, making sure to include words that will reveal various sides of the vaccine’s controversy (e.g., “HPV and sexual activity”). If you’ve got access to computers in your classroom or library, break into small groups and assign different search term clusters to each team. Come back to the full group and compare what students found in the first three listings under each Google search they performed. So…what can you find on Google? Use this exercise to explore “search engine optimization”—the process that determines which sites show up at the top of a Google search. What is a “sponsored link” versus an “organic” result? What determines the order of “organic” search result lists that show up through Google?
Web Sites for Sore Eyes: Youth Radio created a MySpace page that features Alana Germany’s story. Check it out at: Youth Radio L.O.V.E Have students review the site. How have social networking sites like MySpace enabled users to become producers and not just consumers of the media? How are young people using social networking sites to promote social awareness, education, and community organizing?
“Public Service” Announcements: Students are bombarded with television commercials, some designed to sell products, and others—like the Gardasil advertisements—doing that and conveying a health message. Have students analyze the “One Less” campaign (bring in a video tape of one of the PSAs, or you can play it off a computer, see resources below). What message does the campaign convey? Who appears in the ads? How effective is it in “branding” the vaccine, and clarifying its use? What would make it better? What story is not being told? Compare the “One Less” campaign with other “social messaging” ads students see on television. Which stand out? Who are the target audiences? Ask students to research the effectiveness of various campaigns. How would they design a campaign at their school to spread a “pro-social” message?
Big companies, big profits: Merck is the company that distributes Gardasil. Students can research the companies that produce the drugs that they find in their own medicine cabinets. How unusual is the controversy Merck is experiencing right now? What other big pharmaceutical companies have generated products that have incited public debate? How have these controversies compared to the one surrounding the HPV vaccine? Drawing from this comparison, have students identify the “hot button” issues likely to heat up debates around industry, drugs, and public health in the media.
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4. MEET THE COMMENTATOR
Alana Germany has reported on youth culture and religion in schools for Youth Radio. She is a senior in high school, headed to college in Los Angeles.
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5. RESOURCES AND RESEARCH
• Killing Off Cancer Resources
• How a Vaccine Search Ended in Triumph
• Video: The Search for a Cancer Vaccine
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Conference of State Legislatures
• National Network for Immunization Information
• PBS Show
• Planned Parenthood
• "Teenwire" How does a person get infected with HPV besides sexual contact?
• Is there anyway guys can get the hpv vaccine?
• The HPV Vaccine: A Sexual Health Breakthrough
• Merck
• FDA (which approved the vaccine)
• National Vaccination Information Center
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6. MEDIA PRODUCTION FOR LEARNING: Making Audio Narratives
Click here to link to Youth Radio's guidelines for conducting interviews, writing commentaries, and producing features.
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