Concept/Story V.1

The “Winter Tale” Project

Concept:
Set in a lower income neighborhood in Toronto, a school in the throes of violent upheaval. The Falconer Report forms the research backdrop of the story. It was written after the death of Jordan Manners, a 15 year old high school student.

The report describes a school system in chaos and collapse. Falconer describes hundreds of cases of violence taking place in schools featuring guns, knives, theft, bullying, sexual violence, and drugs. Criminal activity and incidents went unreported to Police, to Parents as the school administration (the Principal) looked the other way.

Violence and a complete breakdown of discipline and order seemed to be normalized. Teachers appeared to have no control over students, felt powerless.

The report said the situation was not unique to this high school, but common to many other Toronto schools. Different systemic, social, and historical factors were identified that led to this. Jordan Manners' death was just the straw that broke the camel's back, making everything come tumbling down, revealing a deeper malaise.

Story:
The story starts with a school Lock Down. Students in the Drama Class are isolated, parents and adults helpless and scared outside the school. It is a high-profile high-octane event, the kind that catches the news headlines, and generates “Reports” and “Calls for change”. A teaser.

Then we go back to tell the story of the different kids, and how we got to this point.

The story focuses on a group of kids who are in a drama class. At the time of the story they are rehearsing/creating a play - perhaps Shakespeare. Through our storytelling, we tease out the causes of the school violence, and why it got so bad. During the lock-down the adults in the story come together, are connected: a parallel group. The story also explores how each character changes/evolves. The time structure of the story allows backward and forward reflection, to show the "before" as well as the "after" of the event.

Events COLLIDE when SOMETHING HAPPENS. The opening scene is explained. The EVENT hits the headlines . Could be a school shooting, death of a student in school: an outrage. The school is locked down. Media is heavily involved.

All the characters are implicated and impacted and we see the PUBLIC and PRIVATE angles of these events.

The “Winter Tale” Project

Notes on Weekend Workshop: March 6th, 7th, 8th 2008

Bobby, FA, Valerie, Lucky, Michael.

Friday 6th

We discussed rules for the weekend, and research that each person did.

RULES
Everybody has equal time
No one speaks twice until everyone has spoken once
Confidentiality
Later we added the following:
Leave work in the circle (don’t talk about work during breaks)


Some techniques used during the weekend:
Listening circle
Listening pairs
Sharing personal stories: eg of high school.
Meditation on breath
Physical exercises ( to wake up the body/mind and keep the blood flowing)

RESEARCH
Violence in Schools - The Falconer report
Afro-centric schools debate.

Interviews:
Valerie and Lucky interviewed a group of young people from Western Tech
Michael interviewed a young man from his area
Bobby interviewed a young man on the phone
Frances-Anne interviewed Courtney Panchan - 18year old recnet graduate.

“It’s not a Jane-Finch problem, It’s a Canada problem.”

Saturday 7th

PERSONAL STORIES:
What do you remember of high school?

CHARACTERS:
What kind of characters do we want to see in the story.

STRUCTURE:
1) A pre-existing situation *define*
Triggers of series of events (inciting incident). Characters making good decisions, moral choices, or bad decisions/choices. Characters revealing inner strength in the face of control manipulation of others.
CLIMAX
Resolution/ending

The context: IMMIGRANT CULTURE:

Immigrants left the security of “homeland” - to live in a foreign land.
Diffiicult transition. They miss comfort and security of home, language, culture, all that is known. They left behind support of family, extended family, friends.
Isolation of new environment.

Parents working 2-3 low wage jobs to make ends meet - financial hardship. Poverty.
Parents not available for kids, who are often left to fend for themselves
Kids grow up without emotional support, abandoned traumatised by new environment even if they are born here.
Family relationships are strained under isolation and hardship of new environment Family unit breaks down: parents suffer depression, domestic violence erupts, relationships breaks down.
Children feel pulled in two directions: between heritage culture, and new culture. They may question old values, lose their religion, have generational conflict with parents.

For the kids who are not getting support at home, and are left to their own devices outside the home: It’s a jungle
They may be living in low income communities of marginalised immigrants where people are adept at finding illegal ways of making money: stealing, selling crack cocaine
Kids can work at Macdonalds or other but the role models in the communities are those who have found ways to do well despite the system.
Peer pressure: The drug dealer is cool because he has a BMW, and can get girls and has lots of friends.
Parents are seen as “slaves”. This results in generational conflct between parents and children

“Capitalism drives the immigrant dream.”
The fundamental values of immigrant culture are rooted in the fact that immigrants came here to “make a better life” ie to be rich so everybody (young and old) wants to better themselves, wants the canadian dream, wants wealth security money.

Failure of the canadian dream: Immigrants are always overqualified because of the way the immigration system works - The rules allow only the “best” to come in.
They then have to take low income dead end jobs to make ends meet and never have time to do the make up courses that will get them back on track in their personal carers and ambitions. Many get caught in this trap.
Kids are fully aware that their parents have stepped down in their careers and income level when they come to canada.
They are aware from the first of the betrayal of the Canadian dream.

Immigration rules make it difficult for family members to be together. It can take years - decades - for families to be reunited. Some family members come as “visitors” and stay as illegal immigrants, trapped and trying to con their way to survive.

LOST GENERATION Immigrants are alienated from and lack interest in becoming “part of” Canada - no integration, involvement in local/federal government, or larger society. Ghetto culture, stick to the values of the old country. Most immigrants stick to their own. They are racist against other cultures. Again this causes generational conflict with new generation who feel cut off from parents cultures, ADRIFT and LOST. The younger generation feel disenfranchised by white mainstream canadian culture. But they have no “home” to go back to. Problem of not belonging anywhere, a brittle identity.]]

They become prey to allure of criminal lifestyle and values. Kids learn to fight to survive. It becomes a way of life.


Four out of Ten Students of Afro-Caribbean background don’t graduate: The afro-centric schools debate.

Research on violence in schools

GENERAL
An apprentice drug runner – in Grade 9

JORDAN MANNERS:
Jefferys lawless: Teacher
Violence report reveals culture of fear in Toronto schools
'Busted' school system failed Jordan Manners, teacher says
'Culture of silence' cost son life, Jordan's mom says
Former teacher at C.W. Jeffreys (the school where Jordan Manners was shot) speaks out.
One year after killing of Jordan Manners, C.W. Jefferys has changed
Payne, Lister urged to heal rift
Deadly Lesson : When Jordan Manners was shot dead in his high school last May, some said it was gang related, others said it was an accident. But the root of the crime—bureaucrats playing hot potato with troubled students—is far more disturbing

FALCONER REPORT
Link to the Report
Violence in Toronto's schools is citywide: report