Oct 29, 2007 - A Canadian filmmaker who can sympathize with the victims of Tom Ellison, the recently-sentenced teacher who lead Quest, an outdoor experience program, at Vancouver High School, has made a documentary to record the testimony of his victims.
The film is called, "School of Secrets."
Many of the women in the film still have a hard time coping the confusion of what happened decades earlier.Wood knows because she, too, had a sexual relationship with a teacher when she was young.
The recollection of the teenage excitement and adrenaline they felt during their first sexual experience with the "dreamy" teacher is now combined with the grown-up knowledge that what Ellison was doing was wrong."
These women have struggled, that's for sure," [filmaker Melanie] Wood said. "They went into it, maybe at the beginning not quite knowing what they were getting into but they certainly didn't say no at the time. So they feel like it was partly their fault. I think that's been damaging for them."
As a teenage girl, you think you're in control of your life, but in this case it's a question of power and authority, and that line shouldn't have been crossed. It really wasn't their decision to make, but they felt it was.
The film will air on CBC Newsworld this week. Interview with Wood.
