Hosting Paper Tigers without pre-screening?

I have seen it and suspect the question depends on who your audience is. Some of the student's life situations are painful, and not necessarily what I would suggest showing to very young children. However, it was shown at our Hanna Boys Center to teens who had similar life experiences and was well received. Some of our staff have teenage kids and they watched it with no problems. When I watched it, it reminded me of kids I knew in high school, so I suspect high school-age kids might really identify with the film. The audiences for our showings were primarily adults who worked as teachers or social workers, and I do not recall anyone suggesting a viewing warning.

I recommend setting a few boxes of tissues out for the audience. My one criticism is that it is not a film that you can simply watch and say, "Well, that's what we should do." The teachers shown have some serious boundary issues; not inappropriate actions, but I would worry about rapid burnout. It's hard to imagine sustaining that level of effort for all the students in the school.

We are showing the film in our community next month and I am very glad that we did a prescreening first.  The primary concern that arose among our pre-screen group was the difference in the racial/ethnic make up in Walla Walla, Washington (primarily Caucasian and Hispanic) and our community, especially the city, where the population has a high concentration of African Americans.  There was concern that the audience may feel that the film is not representative of our community and question whether what was done in Walla Walla is culturally relevant and responsive.  This has given us time to prepare and set context for the film.  We will presenting local data and acknowledging the differences prior to showing the film and framing this as one community example.  We are also having a panel after the screening to discuss what is happening locally, which includes trauma informed work in our city schools. 

In regards to Allen's comment above, I would concur that addressing vicarious trauma for staff is important.  You definitely see that it is there but is not directly addressed in the film. 

It is a powerful film and I do recommend it.  I think it is a great starter for community discussion. 

I love the film and agree with Allen that my sense is that the Washington students may not always reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of students in our local districts, but the experiences are similar and powerful.  My primary concern is for teachers viewing the film. On the one hand, I do think they will feel validated for the impossibilities of what they are asked to do every day and on the other hand they may feel, and rightly so, as if to make a real impact they have to do even more and step in where families and communities and cannot.  The question stimulated for all of us at my center  is how to we make this a sustainable shift in practice for those in the workforce most impacted...  How do we come together to rescue/support our frontline staff so they can sustain this level of secondary stress and vicarious trauma as they heroically stand with youth in the fires of toxic stress and find ways out with them? I am thinking about ways we can address this in Bay Area screenings and ways to pivot from the emotional impact on audiences to some commitments in practice change--especially around teacher supports--rather than focusing on training teachers to do more.  How do we create healing school environments so we can sustain healing teachers?

My thoughts.  Absolutely think the film is powerful and very much appreciate the focus on schools. 

I have seen the film and it is powerful. Many of the students in the film are survivors of sexual trauma (and other forms of trauma), so it would be important to know that no matter who your audience is, you will have survivors in the room. A "trigger" warning is something to consider, that is, some kind of statement before the screening to advise that some content might be upsetting. Encourage people to self-care, and provide some resources (local, national rape-crisis hot-lines, suicide hot-lines, etc.). The film does not reflect members of the LGBTQ+ community, so that might be something to discuss, address post-screening.

Hi Claire - I'm on the Paper Tigers team and can work with you to preview the film. Reach out to me at lynn.waymer@gmail.com . Thanks for your interest!!

I have seen the film and participated on panels following a few showings.  I think the film represents a great starting point for how to think about students with trauma histories.  I could see that teachers would feel that they might now be willing and/or able to step up to the level that some of the teachers did in the movie.  I think there are other ways to model support for students without teachers giving up their own family lives and weekends etc.  What is important about this story is that someone was enlightened about the effect of trauma in kid's lives and was moved to do something about it.  It made a big, life-changing difference for many of these kids.  I think communities can go from there to make their own plans for more trauma-informed and trauma responsive environments.

Wow! Thank you Allen, Elizabeth, Jen, Joanne, Lynn, and Grace for your thoughtful responses.  It is clear Paper Tigers is a great movie that prompts important discussions around all of our roles supporting resilience in our communities.  After reading your responses I think it is important for me to both introduce the movie and how relates (and doesn't) to our community and set up a panel after the screening to lead discussion around ACEs in the context of Newark.  I appreciate all of your valuable insight.  Thank you!

I respect and appreciate all of your questions and perspectives. What I am grateful about Paper Tigers, is that Jamie Redford used Lincoln High School as a lens to bring awareness for the greater good for others.  

Paper Tigers focuses on five students, Lincoln High School focused on 200 students.  A trauma-informed model is a paradigm shift, a new approach that impacts the culture of the school or agency.  I think we overlook the larger message if we begin to make assumptions on what we don't know. 

Paper Tigers is a tool from my perspective. Use it as the tool to start the conversation in your own community.  How can you collaborate together to bring  trauma-informed practices to your schools and other community entities?  

A caring adult relationship is a game changer.  It models resilience, it loves unconditionally, and it values every student/client (LGBTQ) in a manner that each of us deserves to be treated.  Therefore, you create a culture of acceptance, and the injustice and barriers that we see in traditional systems, are removed.

ACE's are real and it takes a trauma-informed model to create the culture in which the student's/client's wounds can become stepping stones to their growth... Moving from hopelessness to HOPE.

Blessings, Jim

Great discussion thread as we are discussing film screenings in Baltimore and had similar concerns as you Claire.  Thanks to all for the input. Makes me think we should rethink screening this film.

Rosalyn, I have screened Paper Tigers in several communities in Chicago, Kansas, and Missouri in which the demographics are far different than WW's demographics, and the response from these communities has been very powerful.  I feel that we have to bring public awareness to the current practices that are failing our minority students miserably.  Pipeline to Prison, Zero Tolerance policies...our general public is not aware of the inequity and injustice that still is disproportionately pushing our minority kids out of the system.

That is the discussion that I hear taking place in the communities and the schools that screen Paper Tigers.  Paper Tigers is a tool that drives the conversation which in my experience focuses on the challenges in which the community is facing.  The trauma informed strategies work for all kids, that is the message that we want to shout from the mountain tops. Every student that comes through our school doors, deserves to feel safe, valued, and connected with a village of caring adult relationships.  I respect whatever you decide, I just wanted to share that film sets up the conversations that need to happen if we are going to see change in our schools and in our communities.  Blessings, Jim

I want to agree with Jim. We need to not focus on the possible fragility of our audience.  The screening will take place in a room of supportive adults who presumingly will be there because they want to have a conversation about how to address the high level of trauma in our communities.  I am against keeping secrets - it's time to acknowledge that kids have trauma and also that kids can be resilient and there are people who want to support this resilience.  Show it everywhere and have some conversations - that's how we will learn and grow.

Grace, I couldn't have said it any better.  I hope all of us interacting in this conversation feel supported and appreciated. 

Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful responses!

Wow - what a great discussion - wonderful to see the support and expertise of ACE Connections members.  We're about to screen Paper Tigers in Philadelphia for the first time (I have previewed it and agree with the comments above).  We are pairing it with another film, Portraits of Professional Caregivers - which is about secondary traumatic stress and strategies to prevent and address it.  We are calling our even an ACE Film Festival you can read more about it on the Philadelphia ACE Connection page.  We'll post afterwards about how it went.