?Eighteen-year-old Alex Frisch believes the cloud of silence surrounding teen dating violence is the most difficult part of raising awareness.
?A majority of people in our community are unaware that violence exists here,? Frisch said. ?It often goes unnoticed.?
Frisch, a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School, is part of the Teen Advisory Project, a group of teens who?ve spent the last year writing, directing and creating a film to highlight teen dating violence in their community. It is set to premiere Thursday. The group is working with Sarah?s Inn, an Oak Park-based shelter for victims of domestic violence.
While she hasn?t experienced dating violence firsthand, Frisch said she has seen others in unhealthy relationships and wants to help bring the topic to the surface.
?In high school, people are so focused on finding themselves, and they usually get tied to another person in the process,? Frisch said. ?It?s easy to get caught in a web of control where both the victim and the abuser don?t realize what?s happening. It?s common in high school relationships.?
The film is about 18 minutes, and will be shown twice on Thursday night at Oak Park?s?at Open Door Theatre. While tickets for the free event are disappearing quickly,?Chris Ptak, teen program manager for Sarah?s Inn, said the goal is to have the film shown at OPRF during physical education classes next school year.
Ptak said technology has made it more difficult for parents and others to realize what?s going on if a teen they care about is being mistreated.
?The controlling behavior isn?t anything new, but unless a parent goes through every single one of their teenager?s text messages, they wouldn?t know who they?re talking to and how often,? Ptak said. ?Technology has made teen dating violence harder to see.?
The teens spent about three months last year writing the script, he said, and then approached the Sarah?s Inn board of directors for support of the organization.
Sarah?s Inn Executive Director Regina Botterill said the teens involved in the project seem to really understand all the ways abuse can happen. The film touches on a group of students attending the prom, she said, but she wouldn?t reveal more of the script.
?They explore the full range someone can use power and control in a relationship,? Botterill said. ?The intention is to encourage discussion and examination of what you can do when you?re a bystander and you find out something like this is happening.?
Ptak said he?s proud of the work the teen advisory group has put into the film, especially since it?s a topic they chose to explore all on their own.
?They could have chosen to focus more broadly or on a different topic, but they wanted to focus on teen dating violence in this particular community,? Ptak said. ?We hear a lot about bullying, gang violence and child abuse, but teen dating violence is never talked about.?
Frisch, who?s planning a double major in theater and English next year at Northwestern University, served as a student director during the filming.
?I?m both excited and petrified to see it all come together; it was a lot of work,? Frisch said with a laugh. ?I just hope this reaches and benefits students ? especially the younger ones who haven?t experienced the craziness of high school yet.?
The film is being shown from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Open Door Theatre, 903 Ridgeland Ave.
For more information, go to sarahsinn.org.
bdoyle@tribune.com
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