Audrie and Daisy: A Powerful Must Watch Documentary For You And Your Teen

Last week I heard an interview on NPR with two documentary filmmakers talking about their recent film available on Netflix called Audrie and Daisy. I watched it over the weekend.  It is a powerful, and difficult film to watch about two intelligent lovely teens, one 14 years old and the other 17 years old. Both are from good families. They are from two different parts of the country.  Both were victimized and targeted for sexual assault. There is no sugar coating in this film. One of the girls, Audrie, commits suicide after dealing with the humiliation of social media after the sexual assault.  The other girl, Daisy, who was 14 at the time of her assault, now 17 years old, is still recovering from her assault. The small community in which Daisy and her family lived, made her recovery that much more excruciating when the four 17 year old boys got off with no punishment after literally leaving this 14 year old for dead, after getting her drunk and gang raping her. After all, as athletes, and sons of town politician, they were the Teflon teens! Not unlike the recent trial of the swimmer from Stanford who also left his victim for dead, and is now free and on the streets.  This is tough stuff to watch. But it is a must watch. Not only for you but even more importantly for your teens. Teens live in a magical world that leaves them feeling invincible. Even though they may drink or do drugs sometimes to excess, see their friends or themselves participate in risky situations, most often they don't get caught. This feeds their sense of invincibility. Kids are good at not getting caught, which is why films like this are so important for your teens to watch. It is important for your boys to understand that the alcohol defense is indefensible. "I was so drunk I didn't know what I was doing!And for your girls to understand the difference between attention and flirting, and fighting for control of their bodies. And for both genders, It is never OK to publicly shame and humiliate another human being! Sure you can tell them that, and lecture them about it, and talk about your family's values, but when they are out with their friends, and the photo's and videos are being taken of victimized teens, your words may fall on deaf ears. They need to see and hear the consequences from real victims, that they can identify with about how that feels. I have copy and pasted below the link to the parent page of this movie. This website is an amazing resource for you. It gives you the script to talk with your teen about this movie. Cause it won't be easy. But watch it they must. If your teens are out and about in their life, one out of of three of them will experience sexual harassment. So make a movie date, or if they avoid your request, make it a pre-requisite before permission is given for sleepovers or party going. That's how important I think this is!!!!!

http://audrieanddaisy.com/watch-and-discuss/discussion-guide-for-parents/

See these facts below.

Here are some facts that they filmmakers want you to know:

Young people 12 to 19 years old experience the highest rates of rape and sexual violence in the United States. 68 percent of sexual assaults are never reported to the police, and 98 percent of perpetrators will never spend a day in prison. ¹

• Approximately one in three adolescent girls and boys in the U.S. are victims of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. ²
• 60 percent of all middle and high school students are sexually harassed each year.³
• Nearly 30 percent of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth experience dating violence in high school,⁴ and the rates are higher for their transgender peers, especially those of color.⁵

In this climate of sexual violence, social media is intricately woven into teens’ lives:

• 92 percent of Americans age 13-17 are online for social media at least once a day.⁶
• 42 percent of teens 13-18 years old said their parents know nothing or very little about what they do online.⁷
• 95 percent of teens report witnessing cruelty or bullying online, and 21 percent joined in when they saw it.⁸