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2025 Region Judging – Animated Short

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Dear Judge,

We encourage you to seek personal support if you become troubled by the content of this category. If you experience an emotional crisis, there are people available to help you by calling or texting 988 for the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

The entry you are judging is a 30-second film in the Animated Short category and includes suicide prevention messaging. Suicide is a complex and sensitive subject which needs to be addressed with compassion and knowledge. This category has special content that must be included and specific content that must be avoided for the safety of and respect for the audience.

At any point if you are experiencing technical difficulties with the website, or have questions regarding the category description, please email dori@youthcreatingchange.org

In advance, we appreciate your time.

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Judge Name*

Safe Messaging Scoring Measures

Please assess how well the message is communicated. It does not have to be stated verbatim, but could be implied through dialog or another creative way. Note that it does not have to be one of the messages below, as long as the message is focused on suicide prevention.
  • #Bethe1toKnowtheSigns: Educate others about the warning signs for suicide. Many people show one or more warning signs, so it is important to know the signs and take them seriously, especially if a behavior is new, has increased, or seems related to a painful event, loss, or change.
  • #Bethe1toFindtheWords: Communicate that it is okay to break a friend’s trust and share your concerns with an adult if you think your friend might be thinking about harming him or herself. Remember: Asking someone “Are you thinking about suicide?” will not put thoughts of suicide in their mind. In fact, asking this direct question is important.
  • #Bethe1toReachOut: Encourage people to ask for help, to reach out to a friend they are concerned about, or, if someone is talking about ending their life, to take them seriously and connect them to help.
Please enter a number from 0 to 30.
2. Does the film incorporate one of the following hashtags*
  • #Bethe1toKnowtheSigns
  • #Bethe1toFindtheWords
  • #Bethe1toReachOut
3. Does the film apply appropriate language and/or safe messaging (where applicable)?*
Please review the safe messaging guidelines below when scoring this question. You will answer “no” if one or more of these were not applied.
  • The film avoids oversimplification of the causes of suicide, mental illness, and/or the process of recovery: It is okay for films to talk about life problems that may increase a person’s risk of suicide – such as family issues (divorce, abuse) or social issues (bullying, break ups) – as these can possibly contribute to a young person feeling hopeless, engaging in reckless or harmful behaviors, or isolating themselves from others (all of which are warning signs for suicide); however, films should not point to a person’s culture, sexual orientation, gender, or other factors as THE cause of suicide or mental illness. No one thing definitively causes suicide and mental health challenges, and people experiencing suicidal thoughts are often dealing with multiple difficult situations and exhibit warning signs. Additionally, it often takes more than “a simple act of kindness” to save a life or to heal from the root causes that contribute to thoughts of suicide or mental illness. For instance, although picking up someone’s books when they fall is a nice metaphor for treating others with empathy and compassion, recovery and suicide are both complicated.
  • The film provides a suicide prevention resource: Most films will meet this criterion by including the required end slate, but they are welcome to incorporate additional resources in their film such as, but not limited to, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Teen Line.
  • The film does not include portrayals of suicide deaths or attempts or items that can be used in a suicide attempt: This includes, but is not limited to, a person jumping off a building or bridge, or holding a gun to their head). Portraying actions related to suicide attempts and showing items someone might use for a suicide attempt even in dramatization, can increase the chances of an attempt by someone who might be thinking about suicide and exposed to the film.
  • The film avoids harmful statistics: Statistics are a complex factor in creating safe suicide prevention messages, so we recommend that our participants not use them. Films should especially avoid using statistics that make suicide seem common or inevitable (which could encourage a young person already thinking about suicide to mistakenly believe that it is a normal and acceptable solution to their problems). Saying something such as “a person dies by suicide every 18 minutes” also takes the focus off of the help available to those who are struggling. Remember, films should be focused on raising awareness around suicide prevention, not just convincing people that suicide is a problem.
  • The film uses appropriate language around suicide (if applicable): The suicide prevention community is trying to clarify the ways people refer to actions related to suicide. The clearer and more respectful we can when speaking about actions related to suicide, the more we will be able to remove misconceptions that prevent people from getting support.
    • Use “died by suicide” or “took their own life” (do not use committed suicide).
    • Use “attempted suicide.” Suicide and suicide attempts should not be referred to as “successful” or “unsuccessful,” as the concept of “success” (or its lack) does not apply to suicide.
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