IT’S A TEEN’S WORLD: wired for sex, lies and power trips is:
- A 75-minute feature documentary film, chaptered with a User Guide
- A set of 3 interactive classroom modules with a User Guide
- A 3-hour documentary radio series
- A comprehensive website to support families and educators in their efforts to promote healthy and respectful relationships among teens
“You know, you think that okay, then maybe I could grab her ass ‘cause the way she dresses, she’s telling me to grab her ass.”
“They keep doing it even if you say no or stop ‘cause they think you’re joking so it gets kind of difficult to tell them to stop.”
“They don’t think that the little things they do is sexual harassment. They just think it’s normal.”
Teens today are active players in a sexually-charged popular culture, fuelled by media and personal technology. But at what cost? Whether it’s posting sexy photos and raunchy video on the net, ass-grabbing in the school hallway or spreading explicit gossip that shatters high school lives, harassment is commonplace, even acceptable.
Teenagers seem to be simply absorbing the bombardment of sexually explicit language, images and behaviours into their social scripts. Even those who recognize the consequences feel powerless to stop it.
Combining documentary verite and self-directed dramatic films, three diverse groups of Toronto teens have an unprecedented opportunity to examine their provocative, fast-paced and hyper-sexualized social world more carefully and thoughtfully. Perhaps most revealing is how the kids in each group challenge each other’s assumptions, grapple with contradictions and ultimately change their perspectives.
In an unprecedented journey through computer screens, inside all-ages clubs, with candid personal diaries and inspired to make their own short dramatic films about sexual pressures, It’s a Teen’s World exposes what it’s like for today’s teens to navigate a tangled web of sex, lies and power trips.
It’s a Teen’s World is the thematic sequel to director/producer Lynn Glazier’s acclaimed and influential documentary film “It’s a Girl’s World: how girls use their social power to hurt each other” (NFB 2004).