Show Drama
Exploring the perception and treatment of mentally-challenged youth and their similarities to juvenile delinquents in Japanese society, this drama series follows the trials and tribulations of a group of adolescents in a work/study program for mentally-challenged teenagers. Although the program's intention is to gently "normalize" them for introduction in society, the group is subject to constant physical and mental abuse unbeknownst to their parents and teacher, Ms Hagawa. However, the friendship between Towa, a naive but unusually articulate member of the program, and Arisu, a rebellious schoolgirl, helps both of them learn to overcome their troubles.
Japan Japan
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Concrete
A high-school girl is kidnapped by gang lords and held captive for several months. Over this time, she repeatedly beaten, raped, and tortured. On the 25th of November 1988, four youths abducted and held Furuta Junko in the house of one of the captors. Subjected to rape, torture, and humiliation, Junko had no hope of escape as the manhunt was stalled by the captors forcing her to tell her parents that she was ok. For 41 harrowing days, Junko had to endure unimaginable suffering at the hands of these four individuals. Finally, after losing in a game of mahjong solitaire, they beat her with an iron dumbbell and set on fire with lighter fluid. She died later that day from shock. In an attempt to hide their crime they buried her in cement and thus the name 'Concrete Encased High School Murder Case' was born as Japan had to confront the horrors of this crime. The perpetrators disposed the drum in a tract of reclaimed land in Koto, Tokyo.
This Boy's Life
When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.
So Young, So Bad
Idealistic and naive Dr. Jason arrives at a school for delinquent girls and immediately begins to try to make a difference in the lives of some of the inmates. Oblivious to the sadistic treatment of the girls by the matrons, it takes a rebellious girl named Loretta to open his eyes. Assisted by a female staff member, Jason finally gets proof of the abuse and threatens the head of the school with exposure unless he is given full rein to run things.
Harmful Insect
13-year-old Sachiko is about to encounter the most difficult moments in her young life. Her father abandons her and her mother attempts to commit suicide by slashing her wrist. Her teacher, whom she relies on heavily, leaves for northern Japan to take another job. Other students start to gossip about Sachiko and her former teacher. Sachiko then drops out of school and attempts to find herself.
Manic
Follows the fate of Lyle, a violent adolescent who, in lieu of prison, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew - abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on by their grit and anger - becomes Lyle's last lifeline as he fights to find meaning in a world that seems to defy understanding.
Heart of America
Starring Jurgen Prochnow ('The Replacement Killers' 'Air Force One' and Patrick Muldoon 'Stigmata' 'Starship Troopers'), 'Heart of America' is a powerhouse of a contemporary drama and essential viewing for anyone who was captivated by Michael Moore's 'Bowling For Columbine'. It is the last day of high school and the unthinkable is about to happen. Distraught at the constant abuse and bullying they have been subjected to, two students have made a suicide pact. But before they take their own lives, they are determined to cause chaos and murder amongst their fellow students.
Children of Darkness
A significant number of American children and teenagers - from all social backgrounds - suffer from mental disorders, schizophrenia, autism and emotional problems, leading them to isolation from society while treating their issues in mental health facilities. But there's no end in sight for those young individuals when they face obstacles and mistreatment in inadequate places under the supervision of careless and inexperienced professionals. The documentary follows some of those public mental institutions and another private center dealing with troubled kids and reveals what's wrong with their procedures, and the irreparable harm they cause in those patients.
Painful Secrets
Dawn isn't like other kids her age full of typical teenage angst about boys, school and parents. Her pain goes far deeper, and to deal with her emotional overload she physically cuts herself. The problem of adolescent girls committing self-mutilation is very real, and this movie exposes the growing epidemic. It's a film you can't afford to miss.
Dangerous Child
A divorced mother faces the bitter irony of being suspected of child abuse when in fact her own teen son is taking verbal and physical swipes at her.
Something About Amelia
Counseling helps family deal with the discovery that their child was sexually abused by the closest relative.
The Last Stop
The Élan School was a for-profit, residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school located deep within the woods of Maine. Delinquent teenagers who failed to comply with other treatment programs were referred to the school as a last resort. Treatment entailed harsh discipline, surveillance, degradation, and downright abuse. Years later, the patients who were institutionalized in this facility still carry the trauma they endured, with mixed opinions on the impact of their experience.
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Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school. Many episodes tackled difficult topics such as drug use, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, homophobia, racism, and divorce, and the series was acclaimed for its sensitive and realistic portrayal of the challenges of teenage life. The cast comprised mainly non-professional actors, which added to the show's sense of realism. The series featured many of the same actors who had starred on The Kids of Degrassi Street a few years earlier, including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth and others. However, their character names and family situations had been changed, so Degrassi Junior High cannot, therefore, be considered a direct spinoff. The legal counsel for all the episodes was Stephen Stohn who later became the executive producer of Degrassi: The Next Generation. The series was filmed at the unused Vincent Massey Public School in Etobicoke, Ontario.
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath
Leah Remini, along with high level former Scientology executives and Church members, explores individual accounts from ex-Church members and their families through meetings and interviews with Leah. Each episode features stories from former members whose lives have been affected by the Church's harmful practices, even well after they left the organization.
Beyond Scared Straight
Observing programs for troubled teens in which inmates reveal the realities of prison life in the hope of deterring them from a life of crime.
Evil or Live
Severe internet addiction has become an epidemic infecting the nation's youth, ultimately resulting in their extreme dependence on the world wide web. Those who are too far gone are enrolled at Elite Reeducation Academy in order to help them grow into successful adults. Hibiki is one such teenager who awakens in the facility unaware of how he came to be there. He learns from the head instructor that he was knocked out and brought to the school at his mother's behest, concerned with how belligerent her son was becoming as a result of his internet addiction. Stuck in a place more akin to a prison than an academy, and with no escape from the abuses of the instructors, Hibiki decides to end his life by jumping from the roof. But as fate would have it, he meets a mysterious man named Shin who promises to give his life meaning...
Girls Incarcerated
An eight-part documentary series that goes behind the scenes at Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana, where teenage girls struggle to overcome their troubled pasts and find hope for the future.
Love Is___
Follow a young black couple in 1990s Los Angeles, two people from opposite worlds, as they go through the trials and tribulations of chasing their dreams and learning how to follow their hearts. Nuri is bubbly and has big dreams, but she is struggling to make a name for herself as a sitcom staff writer while juggling a string of romances. Yasir is an aspiring director/writer who has hit a snag and is on-and-off again with his ex. The program is told from the perspective of Nuri and Yasir's present-selves while they revisit the social issues and the vibrant black culture that helped shape who they are today.
Surviving R. Kelly
Celebrated as one of the greatest R&B singers of all time, R. Kelly’s genre defining career and playboy lifestyle has been riddled with rumors of abuse, predatory behavior, and pedophilia. Despite damning evidence and multiple witnesses, to date, none of these accusations have seemingly affected him. For the first time ever, survivors and people from R. Kelly’s inner circle, are coming forward with new allegations about his sexual, mental, and physical abuse. They are now finally ready to share their full story and shed light on the secret life the public has never seen.
Avec un grand A
L'Amour avec un Grand A is a French-Canadian television series which aired from 1988 to 1995. The series explores different complex sexual and taboo issues. Some notable subjects include: Rape, Teen Obsession, Age Difference in love, Homosexuality and Married, Schizophrenia, Spousal Abuse. The series lasted 7 years and was very popular in Quebec. It was written by Janette Bertrand.
Kemono Jihen
When a series of animal bodies that rot away after a single night begin appearing in a remote mountain village, Inugami, a detective from Tokyo who specializes in the occult, is called to investigate. While working the case, he befriends a strange boy who works in the field every day instead of going to school. Shunned by his peers and nicknamed “Dorotabo” after a yokai that lives in the mud, he helps Inugami uncover the truth behind the killings — but supernatural forces are at work, and while Dorotabo is just a nickname, it might not be the only thing about the boy that isn’t human.
Shonan Junai Gumi!
Before Ekichi Onizuka would become “Great Teacher Onizuka“, he and Ryuji Danma were members of the infamous biker gang Oni-Baku. When they weren’t out riding around and getting into trouble, this duo could be found in school. Doing what you ask? Picking up women of course!
Keep This Between Us
The series exposes an epidemic of widespread grooming – manipulative and coercive behavior by abusers to gain access to potential victims – in U.S. high schools. The series follows one woman’s journey as she reexamines her past relationship with a trusted teacher.
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets
A limited docuseries exposing the truth beneath the wholesome Americana surface of reality tv’s favorite mega-family, The Duggars, and the radical organization behind them: The Institute in Basic Life Principles. As details of the family and their scandals unfold, we realize they’re part of an insidious, much larger threat already in motion, with democracy itself in peril.
America
In "America," Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her newest patient, a bi-racial boy named America. Through their sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America come to terms with his roller-coaster life, which began when he was taken by authorities from his crack-addicted mother, and placed into foster care as an infant. The short time of stability in his life occurred when America lived with Mrs. Harper, the elderly nanny to one of his foster families. Later reunited with his mother, she soon abandons America and he is again placed into foster care. Lagging behind in school and full of anger, America retreats further away from society after years of sexual abuse. After attempting suicide, America is placed in a treatment center where Dr. Brennan helps him open up about his painful past and discover the support and courage he needs to get his life back on track.