Joel A. Berger Award

BET’s Teen Forums are an integral part of its Emmy Award winning “Rap It Up” campaign. Rap It Up is a comprehensive public education campaign to inform young people about sexual health issues including HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.

The campaign includes special programming, public service advertisements, online content on BET.com, and a toll-free resource and referral hotline. In 2001, the campaign added a grassroots initiative to complement on-air and online components. Program elements include the teen forums, mobile HIV testing events, and school curricula on HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is a catastrophic worldwide health pandemic for which there is no preventive vaccine or cure. The United States has the highest reported rates of HIV and AIDS cases among all developed countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control, African-American youth comprised 69% of new HIV/AIDS cases across the United States while only representing 16% of the U.S. teen population.

Recognizing the opportunity to make a difference, BET partnered with the Kaiser Family Foundation 10 years ago to bring the HIV/AIDS issue to the forefront of the African-American community and beyond, using media as a tool to educate.

By providing vital information about HIV/AIDS, BET’s objective has been and continues to be to help young people make informed decisions that can “literally” save their lives. Studies have shown that in addition to early, open, honest communication between parents and youth about sexual activity, school based programs are critical for reaching youth before behaviors are established. Research clearly indicates that the most effective programs are comprehensive ones that include information on how sexually active young people can protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

This same research indicates that a young person’s resolve to remain abstinent is also strengthened by in-school support and education.

The Rap It Up Teen Forums provide this much needed in-school programming by organizing on-air personalities, recording artists, professional athletes, physicians, health educators, radio stations, AIDS activists, local health departments and a host of community partners to present informative, empowering and entertaining dialogue.

The Rap-It-Up campaign team collaborates with urban and rural middle school, high school and college staff to facilitate a detailed two hour panel discussion about HIV/AIDS for students. In this safe and compassionate environment, students are encouraged to ask questions, share stories, and get accurate information about a disease clouded with myths and misinformation.

These forums are scheduled during the school day and on average, reach approximately 500-700 students per event. To date, over 20,000 youth and young adults have participated in the forums in over 33 markets nationwide.

In 2007, BET expanded its impact by conducting forums in the Caribbean and Canada.

As a result of many of these forums, thousands of students have been motivated to get tested, get involved by educating their peers, and commit to a healthy lifestyle grounded in personal responsibility and sound decision making.