Sex ed videos made with $20 budget gaining traction online

A sexual health educator in rural Nova Scotiais proving you don't need expensive sets or hired actors to get your message across.

Rene Ross,the lone employee and executive director at the Sexual Health Centre for Cumberland County,is producingno-nonsense videosaboutsafesex and sexual health.

And thanks to her trusty cellphone and the help of two NSCC students,the videos are garnering thousands of views on Facebook.

"We don't have a budget for the videos, really," Ross told the CBC's Information Morning. "The last one the props cost us $5, and then the rest of the production cost $15. So that's pretty much what we had to work with."

The centre's first two videos were posted within the last two weeks and alreadyhave more than 7,000 views each on Facebook. The videosfocus on everything from how to properly store condoms to why it's not a good idea to brush your teeth before sex.

In the latest video,"What to do before doing it," Rossexplains that if you brush or floss, you're morelikely to bleed, which increases your chances of receiving or transmittingsexually transmitted infections.

That's why it's best to opt for a mint instead, she said.

Ross said the idea behind the videos is to use online spaces where people already congregate to share practical tips in a fun way.

It's also an effort to set the record straight becausethere's so much false information about sexavailable online, especially on social media, she said.

While people between the ages of 15 and 24 still have the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections, they're not the only ones who need to be reminded to practisesafe sex, Ross said.

"One of the fastest growing populations for STI rates is absolutely older adults and seniors, and so we're needing to do more and more outreach to that population across the county," she said.

That's why Ross not only visits schools to educate students,but also makes presentations at seniors homes and legions.

"I'm trying to make it as fun and as relevant to our communities, and I think that's so important," she said.

Ross said one of the challenges of the impromptu project so far has beenfilming the videos all in one take because she just uses her cellphone anddoesn't have editing software.

But thatisn't stopping herfrom dreaming big.

"There's so many more topics that we can do because sexual health is about so much more than also just, like, the act of sex. It's about our identity, our relationships with one another and with ourselves," said Ross.

"So there's really a lot of wonderful potential there."