The Truth About Drinking
Award-Winner & 1999 Emmy Nominee
Grades 6-12
Appearances by: Tyra Banks, Kevin Sorbo, and Evander Holyfield

For many of today’s teenagers, it is considered cool to drink as much as they can in social situations involving their peers.  In this program, teens who are current drinkers see firsthand the potential consequences of alcohol use from every perspective, including:  how drinking impairs a person’s coordination, vision, and reaction time; how the brain and other organs suffer lasting damage from alcohol use; how a drunk person drives; and how drinking can lead to spending months in a rehabilitation center.  

30  minutes (School version), English or Spanish - $150
46  minutes, English $175

"I wish videos like this were shown in high school. 
Videos that really get the point across and scare us into making the right decision." 
Jose, 20- year-old

Smoking - Truth or Dare?
Award Winner
Grades 6-12
Appearances by: Boyz II Men, Judd Hirsch, Jeff Bagwell, Christy Turlington, and Donna Shalala

Despite increased education in the classroom about the dangers of tobacco use, many teens are not getting the message.  They may be aware that smoking or chewing tobacco has dire consequences, but they do not believe or care that they too, will become part of the statistics.  This program graphically demonstrates to teens who use tobacco exactly what this deadly habit is doing to them.  The damage to their bodies is not just something intangible that they might have to face 40 years down the road.  These young people are suffering the deadly effects of their tobacco use right now, and the consequences will only get worse.

29 minutes (School version), English or Spanish - $150
52 minutes, English $175

"Nothing worked until I saw this program."   
  Peg Sloan, two-pack-a-day smoker who quit after 50 years. 

The Truth About Hate
Award Winner
Grades 6-12
Appearances by Kobe Bryant

This program explores the origins of hate through the eyes of today’s teenagers as they confront with their own racism, ethnic bigotry, religious hatred, and sexual discrimination.  Through interactive experiences with other teens who are different from themselves, and emotional encounters with people who have been victimized or affected by hate due to family and social ties, these young people gradually learn to face the destructive reality of their prejudices.  

30 minutes (School version), English or Spanish - $150
45 minutes, English $175

"I didn't like seeing reality, but everyone knows that it has to be faced sooner or later ."
16-year-old male. 

The Truth About Sex
Award Winner
Grades 6-12
Appearances by: ER's Kellie Martin, and Loveline's Dr. Drew Pinsky

More than half of all teenagers have had sex before they’re 18 years old.  Therefore, it’s not surprising that a teenager contacts a sexually transmitted disease every 10 seconds in America and over 3,000 teenage girls become pregnant every day.  This program forces teenagers to face the hard-hitting realities of having sex too young, including unwanted pregnancies and STDs.  Teens discuss the struggles of becoming parents at such a young age, while another young couple faces the possibility that they could be pregnant.  Also, a group of teenagers participate in a “mock AIDS test,” and Lisa, a 33-year old heterosexual woman with full-blown AIDS, shares her story.

30 minutes (School version), English or Spanish - $150
46 minutes, English $150

"I know that before I have sex again, I am going to stop and really thing about what can happen to me.  I think more people will think about sex beforehand if they have seen this program." 
Jen, 16-year-old

The Truth About Violence
Award Winner
Grades 6-12

Teen violence in the U.S. has reached epidemic proportions.  Statistics show that over half of children in grades 6 through 12 say they could get a handgun.  Since 1980, 1 in 4 murders of juveniles involved a juvenile offender.  More than 2,000 children are abused every day, and 80% of those children go on to commit violent acts.

Arriving at a time when Americans are seeking reasons for - and solutions to - the problem of teen violence, this explosive new documentary explores violence and its consequences through the eyes of eight Los Angeles teens.  Two of them are in gangs, two are involved with gang members, three are on probation for violent behavior, and all of them have histories of  harming their peers, teachers, or themselves.

The program begins with the teens expressing their feelings about violence.  Hardened by their own experiences, these young people see violence as a necessity in their daily lives, think nothing of carrying or potentially using a gun, and do not consider the consequences of their violent acts to themselves or others. By their own admission, they enjoy the power they feel from their violent behavior.  They then participate in a month long journey that brings them face-to-fact with how violence impacts victims’ lives.  They visit the USC Medical Center and witness in graphic detail the effects of violence;  they tour a battered women’s shelter; they undertake a grueling challenge in the rugged Colorado mountains to learn empathy, teamwork, and discover that it’s possible for to change their violent ways.

Then, during a highly emotional visit, the teens tour Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado,  the site of a mass shooting perpetrated by two students.  The group listens to a grieving father, a brother, and a teacher who share their heartbreaking stories of loss and anger.  After a month of learning to see violence for what it is, the teens are determined to change their lives forever and reach out to other young people to help them overcome the problem of  teen violence.

57 minutes (School version), Video - $150
90 minutes, Video - $175

"I just thought it was so amazing how all those kids could be changed. 
I was so moved by the whole show."
Linda S. Foster, 18-year-old

The Truth About Body Image

Grades 6-12
21 minutes

Teens are faced with many pressures regarding body image, such as the muscle men and waifish women featured in ads and magazines. This program shows its teenage participants how popular ideas of "beauty" damage teens physically and psychologically. Teens comparing themselves to the "life-size" - and completely unrealistic - proportions of Barbie and Ken dolls illustrate the connection between such idealized images and student consumption of steroids and diet pills. Visits to a magazine modeling session and computer graphics artist show how the models and clothing are manipulated and photos are altered to ensure the models' appearance fits the currently accepted image. Even these supposedly "perfect" people aren't what they seem. A trainer for the San Francisco 49ers discusses steroids, and Keena Turner, a former San Francisco 49er, relates how he became a Super Bowl champion without using steroids; former model, Magali Amadei recounts her painful battle with an eating disorder. Compelling media support for Health, Guidance and Life Skills units on self-esteem, resisting peer pressure, behavioral choices and consequences, eating disorders, alcohol and drug education, suicide prevention, youth-at-risk, and family life issues. An Arnold Shapiro Production.

©2001, VHS $150

Also from Award-Winning producer Arnold Shapiro

Scared Straight!  20 Years Later
Award-winner 
Grades 9-12
Hosted by Danny Glover

This sequel to the 1978 Emmy and Oscar Winner Scared Straight!  revisits 20 years later both the teen participants and the convicts who literally scared the young delinquents straight. 

59 minutes (School version), English - $149.95
90 minutes, English - $149.95

About Arnold Shapiro

Arnold Shapiro is one of television's most prolific talents, having produces ten series, five television movies and more than fifty primetime documentaries and specials. 

Shapiro has been heralded for his efforts with over 150 awards, including an Academy Award, 14 Emmys, The Peabody, three Humanities Prizes, tow Silver Gavel Awards for the American Bar Association, and the George Polk Journalism Award from Long Island University.  In 1995, the University of Massachusetts awarded Arnold an honorary doctorate degree. 

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