Sunday, April 26, 2015

A High School Play Written by Students and Child Abuse Awareness

I was invited to go to a play over at Case High School on Sunday, April 19 written by some students.  I was figuring that it would be one of those light hearted shows, with some tongue in cheek word plays.  What I got was something totally different, and I was actually very impressed at the topics covered in this play, entitled The Secret Project.  And it is just as intelligent as it is real as reality can get.

As you know, the month of April is Child Abuse Awareness Month.  We will get back to this later, but, I find it very interesting that many of the topics covered in the show have a lot, if not all, to do with child abuse and making it aware that yes.  These topics exist.

Anyway, it is called The Secret Project, because we all, especially as teens, have secrets that we keep deep within ourselves, never to let it out.  Some are the usual teen angst that is just normalcy in each of our lives.  But, there are other ones that are not so normal nor trivial such as wearing the cast off brand of the designers, because our families can't afford the real ones.  These are real issues, that affect real people, and no, it's not just something we experience as adults and our children unaware.  They are more aware than what we give them credit for.  Which is why we need to lead by example.

The kids started off as a whole group in silence, and there was actually a deaf child, who was unable to be present for this weekend's performance.  But, each individual actor/actress their own secret in sign language.  Of course while obvious that each were doing their own signing, it was impossible to follow any one individual, because there was so much going on...  Just like if everyone started talking at once, but it was silent, so they still keep their secret even if they are literally spelling it out right in front of you.

Anyway, as the stories play out, you don't know which story belongs to which student, and if it represents any of the students themselves, or those of their classmates...  Either way, the topics play out, and the issues cover domestic violence and how these actions can affect the next generation in how a teenage son may be protective of his mother from his abusive father, but, turns around and is abusive toward his girlfriends and sister.  Another story is about anorexia and self harm, and there are issues that are deep and is usually a cry for help, but, as the girl loses weight, gets complimented by her friends on how good the skinny jeans fit her, while a couple of the boys worry about why she is getting so painfully thin, and why she doesn't eat.  There is also the story of a young man who just wants to be in a relationship, and is in a twilight zone of being "just friends". Then there is also the single parent issue and how often, can be over protective of their kids.  A huge issue also, is the thing of how being gay is still experiencing a lot of stigmatization and is ostracized by peers and discriminated by adults.  And, there is teen suicide, which could be any reason, but, in this case, it was a gay kid whose parents sent him to a correction camp, and even parents of other kids were discriminatory. 

Thing is, each and every issue presented in this play is an act of abuse, and yes, they ALL affect our children.  It was very mature of these teenagers who played their roles as typical teens, but with heavy burden on their hearts.  While the stories tugged on everyone's heart strings, especially their closing song, where they all sang as one, I think I was actually more proud of them for tackling these important topics, because they don't go away, just because we ignore them.  These issues should not have to be dealt in silence by our kids.  It's up to us, as adults, to help them.  Hear them.  Listen to them.  Take them seriously.  Ms. Nancy Gibson, the director, was courageous in tackling this, and did not want to water down the issues.  I thank her.

I truly hope that there can be a connection made, because I am here with the Youth Voice Initiative to combat these issues, and to allow for these kids to tell their stories anonymously so I can take this to the legislatures, the courts, etc. to do the work that needs to be done to protect these kids.  Not just the older ones, but our younger ones, too.  I also thought it was so appropriate, that this play was presented in April, which is Child Abuse Awareness Month.

My hope for the future is, that this play will continue with it's own evolution to become more detailed and relevant to the current students, but will draw the attention of our general public, who all too often, wants the issues not to be true, or as true as it is.  Hiding from the topic of abuse, homelessness, etc is not something that will get better, but only worse if we don't tackle it head on.  My dream for the future is to get as many common citizens as possible to help me in my cause to push for a better tomorrow for our children.  You don't have to be in the forefront, because just the same in production, those behind the scenes are just as important as what we get in front of us, for the cause or play to be presented.

A special thank you to Inken, the German foreign exchange student living with my mom, who invited me to go to the show, and to Marysia, a Polish exchange student, also living with my mom, for coming up to personally thank me for coming to the show.  I hope this show continues, and that I'll be able to be a part of the audience while The Secret Project matures and develops into a cause of it's own.

April.  The Child Abuse Awareness Month.  Please learn about it, and join the cause.




    











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