Ever feel like you speak, but are never heard?  Scenarios, USA understands. This New York-based nonprofit organization gives young people a chance to speak out on issues that impact their lives. 

Each year, the organization sponsors the Scenarios Contest for young people, aged 12 to 22, to submit short film scripts on pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and a broad range of other sexuality issues. Authors of five winning scripts are paired with renowned filmmakers, who create short films based on their work.  

Two of this year�s winning scripts were made into the films Lipstick and Choices: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.  In Lipstick, one girl searches for the courage to come out, and her friends struggle to accept and understand her sexual orientation. Choices, which is told from the perspective of three teen guys, is a collection of vignettes about pregnancy, peer pressure, and sexually transmitted infections. These films and other winners will air on Showtime the weekend of February 14, 2003.  Don�t miss it! 

Interested in learning more about Scenarios, USA, or submitting a script for the next contest?  Check out their Web site, or contact them at [email protected] or (646) 230-7677. 

And remember: if you have something to say, there�s always a way to make yourself heard.

�Lauren Elkinson, 19

Take a look at past Sex Matters features.