Notre secret

The negative reviews on this clearly show the state of our society that doesn't understand Power Dynamics and how victims, students (whether girls or boys), high schoolers, should not be blamed for the inappropriate relationships and abuse that goes on. It's disgusting to read some of the comments blaming the girls that have had this happen to them. They are TEENS. The adults know what they are doing and it is not okay.

It's time predatory behavior is held accountable and schools are safer for children. Obviously the hypersexualization of teens in the media and especially now with social media such as tiktok etc doesn't help anything and aids in making children more vulnerable and susceptible to abuse. It's sad. Parents and adults that care, watch out for the signs. Take care of our kids.

I think that some people will not understand this documentary and fall into a victim-blaming mentality. You cannot not take a 16/17 year old child to be your "Girlfriend" when you are a fully grown man ... often with a wife already .... AND be in a position of power, such as many teachers have. It requires a lot of grooming on their part. These ladies were children when this happened. The series touches on the historical sexualisation of young girls, the "Lolita" aspect, and how a predator can turn that into grooming. I'd like to see a follow up episode when Heaven Rubin gets through the next hurdle, which she has been waiting wayyyyyy too long for. Cheryl Nichols' bravery is astounding. I hope she get's the closure she needs.

I gave this series 10 stars because, regardless of style and even the details of these two stories, this kind of grooming and preying on teens happens and it damages lives. The betrayal of trust and the secret-keeping are corrosive. The more this is brought into the public eye, the better. Teenagers are not equipped with the life experience or psychological development to be considered an adult on equal terms with these older predators (not exclusively, but often older men with teen girls), especially those in a position of power. It really is a crime - morally and legally. It is the job of the school system to protect the children in its care, not to foster an environment that turns a blind eye and allows children to be hurt. People may not realize the long-term damage that can result from these relationships, but I speak from experience to say that it runs deep and is long-lasting. To come forward is an act of courage.

The 1 star review left by Cindy is exactly why these issues will persist. Blaming the victim is in appropriate and morally wrong. Unfortunately many people are stuck thinking like Cindy.

This documentary shows exactly why no one wants to speak up. It shares the gray area and nuance of these issues in a way we've known but have not yet seen. Teachers should never EVER cross the threshold into flirting with a student or worse.

And just because the relationship crossed into adulthood has no baring on the fact that was morally wrong from the start.

Very proud of these survivors and excited to see the documentarians work in the future on this topic or other topics.

And oof Bob thinking he's one of the good guys, he's trying to play both sides while himself being a predator.

I have literally never written a review for any type of media. However watching this I kept having the same thoughts and I do not see that anyone else has mentioned this. The subject matter I think is extremely important and needs to be discussed. The crimes committed by these teachers and the countless others need to be brought to light. The people who have committed these crimes need to be held accountable for their actions. Also and arguably more importantly this behavior needs to be de-normalized, de-romanticized. Which brings me to my point and why I am only giving this doc 5 stars. Really it should be a 10 star doc. However so much of the problem here lies in the romanticization and the subsequent normalization of these types of relationships. Which has been perpetuated in large part by the media. A huge example of this comes from the very same company this series is being broadcasted on. As pretty little liars came from free form. On that very show a student has a relationship with her teacher. On the show it is romantic and sort of played like a Romeo and Juliet type thing. With them just being so misunderstood. So much so that the young woman who was in that relationship ends up marrying her perpetrator (let's be clear that's what he was really). Watching that always made me feel sick and wonder how it was perceived as ok? What kind of ideas were we putting into our kids? It's no wonder this is such a widespread problem, we ourselves are making our children easy prey exposing them to ideas like that. Can we not start to hold media accountable as well? A big part of fixing this is going to lie in making sure kids know ITS NOT OK, it's not normal, it's not romantic and it's not their fault. I could go on much longer but I'll stop at this 10 stars for the doc and hopefully the start of a larger conversation. 0 stars for free form and the disgusting things they have allowed to air with no consequences. Also I know it would be hard to find a media company to air this that did not have their hands dirty with this type of stuff. However, with pll being such a recent show I honestly think it was in very poor taste to air it there. This doc should be calling them out. Not being championed by them.