RSU senior Marty Babbitt (left) and junior Cristal Murillo recently produced, wrote, directed and created a series of anti-drug videos, which will start airing on RSU TV’s YouTube channel, RSU social media and local media outlets.
A series of anti-drug videos produced by two RSU students will soon start playing on social media and local television outlets.
According to RSU Drug Prevention Coordinator Roxanne Bilby, the videos were created by the students working in tandem with RSU TV and RSU Radio to raise awareness of the dangers of drug addiction.
“I had the privilege of working with RSU TV and RSU Radio students to craft a coordinated media campaign,” Bilby said. “This campaign was created in an effort to raise awareness about substance misuse, educate students about resources, and celebrate the resilience and creativity of our students here at RSU.”
After an initial meeting with senior Marty Babbitt and junior Cristal Murillo, Bilby gave the pair a rough outline on what she hoped the videos would achieve, but otherwise gave them the freedom to use their own creativity to get the message across.
“We were basically responsible for the entirety of the PSAs (Public Service Announcements) – the production, the writing, the filming, the editing – and given some basic parameters, but other than that, we were given a great deal of creative freedom,” said English major Babbitt. “Collaborating with Cristal was good because working with a partner or members of a team, everyone has a different idea, a different voice and you can come up with very different but compelling ideas with the same prompt.”
“This was very personal for me as I have family members and friends who got lost in drugs,” said cybersecurity major Murillo, “so to create something people will see that might make people avoid going down that road, that’s very satisfying.”
Six anti-drug videos in total were produced, ranging in subject from sharing ADHD medicine, stimulants, opioids, therapy and a testimonial video from a student who shares her story about her own experience with drug addiction.
Bilby said she was “highly impressed” with the students’ creativity and the final product, which will be on RSU TV’s YouTube channel, RSU social media, and eventually air on RSU TV.
“What I hope most of all from these PSAs is that our community recognizes how common a struggle drug addiction can be,” Bilby said. “It comes in many forms, but it is important we talk about and recognize the ways isolation impacts the challenges we have.
“This campaign will hopefully ‘get the people talking’ and provide a space and platform for folks to say ‘Wow, me too. I thought I was all alone in my struggle, but I know there is help available,’” she said.
Rogers State University partners with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to provide prevention education and events on campus. Efforts are focused on substance misuse and suicide prevention.
Prevention on the Hill is a campus coalition focused on substance misuse prevention at the university. The coalition meets monthly, and meetings are open to the public, including community members outside of RSU.
For more information about Prevention on the Hill meetings, contact Bilby at 918-343-8360 or [email protected].