Spreading the message near and far

Sexual health centre attracts 50,000 subscribers worldwide

As the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic emptied classrooms and prevented gatherings in mid-2020, Rene Ross found herself facing the challenge of losing the audience for her organization’s incredibly important message.

As executive director of the Sexual Health Centre for Cumberland County, Ross has worked tirelessly educating young people and raising awareness about making healthy decisions on sexuality and relationships.

COVID-19 interrupted her efforts. So she found new ways, primarily through social media, to continue reaching out to young people. The organization recently passed 50,000 subscribers on TikTok, a remarkable feat considering the Sexual Health Centre for Cumberland County is a smaller program with only Ross for staff.

“What surprises me the most is that of all the views, I can count on one hand the number of negative comments,” she said.

During the pandemic, Ross said, it was challenging to continue her work with children. Even after the pandemic’s restrictions eased, Ross said most educators were told to stick to the basics and things like sexual education were not seen as a priority.

“You can see the gaps,” she said. “It was hard to get the information out and the information that was getting out was so poor. TikTok is also filled with certified TikTik doctors, people who put on the white coat and say they’re doctors, but they’re not doctors at all.”

Now that she’s back in the schools, she can get the message out in person and working in combination with her TikTok videos is undoing some of what was lost.

Ross said people of all ages are watching and commenting and it’s not just people in Amherst, Cumberland County, or Nova Scotia watching. She even has subscribers in Romania.

“We’ve been able to make the connection. It’s great we’re educating thousands of people, but our focus has always been Cumberland County.”

Ross spent a lot of time studying algorithms and learned what worked and what didn’t. She has found today’s younger people, Generation Alpha, have grown up surrounded by technology and are much more familiar with maximizing its potential than previous generations.

“The challenges we’ve had getting sexual health in the classrooms and in society are well known. It used to be a bunch of folks in suits, the gatekeepers, and now it’s algorithms … TikTok has really grown our numbers and I love it because I’m a very creative person. It’s hard for me to shut it off, I’m always thinking of ideas for TikToks.”

Corey Chiasson, a member of the sexual health centre’s board of directors and an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, is a big supporter of what Ross is trying to accomplish.

“Not everybody is provided with an opportunity to see new ideas or people who are different than you and it’s very hard to know how to be supportive toward different people if you don’t have any exposure,” Chiasson said.

The centre is now TikTok’s most widely followed sexual health centre in Canada.

“Rene has this energetic, vibrant and charismatic approach. She’s funny, she’s not afraid to be silly and think outside the box,” Chiasson added.

Chiasson said the success includes the centre’s board of directors, the community watching the videos and young people who support her work.

“We’re seeing an increase in things like bullying and some of it can be pretty intense; it can be very hateful,” Chiasson said. “Some of it’s not intentional, it’s a lack of knowledge, not knowing how it impacts people. These messages are so helpful.”

Chiasson said it also shows the importance of more services in schools through the teen health centre. Without them, there were no gaystraight alliances, no social justice committee and no safe sex supplies.

Ross said she’s not surprised by the impact of social media. Before going to work for the sexual health centre, Ross was involved with the Advisory Council on the Status of Women and the provincial government on developing strategies to prevent sexual violence.

“We met with youth across the province and we consistently heard technology, and social media, were significant contributors to sexual violence,” she said.

Learning about renowned sexual health educators Dr. Ruth Westheimer and Sue Johanson, Ross said she realized how important sex education is outside the classroom and the parent-child relationship.

“We want to go where youth are at. We know youth are on social media,” Ross said.

From talking to children during the pandemic, Ross said she learned a lot of children are on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram regularly.

“TikTok allows us to reach this larger audience and helps us break the stigma on social health,” she said. “It has also allowed us to create partnerships I never thought possible.”