Growing up in small-town Texas, Cheryl Nichols dreamed of being a high school drama teacher. He was the kind of guy who read poetry and made her feel that she was the smartest girl in the class.
“He was one of the teachers who was a very dear mentor,” Nichols, now 39, told The Post.
One night when she was just 16, he invited her and some of her classmates to watch the 90’s comedy series Strangers with Candy. Later that night, with her wife in another room and none of her classmates in sight, he leaned over and kissed her.
“I knew it wasn’t just cheating. [I knew it was wrong] When it became an actual physical thing, it was his home. cooked for us. [His wife] I didn’t realize what was going on,” Nichols said of her predator hiding in front of her.
“I had a relationship with my teacher, and it started when I was 16,” Nicholls said in the trailer for her new four-part documentary series Keep This Between Us, which hits Freeform on Monday. I admit it.
In it, she records her relationships with mentors she trusts.
Dear Pony: OK, first of all, please don’t email me with your real name. Remember, this is our little secret,” Nichols said in the trailer for her documentary, reading an email from her former teacher.
“He’s starting to get more and more sexual,” she says in the series, highlighting the prevalence of grooming in schools across the country and how common it is among young women and older male teachers. guess the
“My relationship with my teacher was a really delicate process, and he seemed to think carefully. It started very innocently. It slowly turned into this kind of direct sexually suggestive conversation,” Nichols told The Post.
Nicholls said a prominent warning sign went unnoticed because she admired the person she thought was her mentor, and for many teenage girls who might experience a similar grooming experience. It’s a common misunderstanding among people, Nichols said.
According to the non-profit organization RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), grooming is defined as the pattern of manipulative behavior most commonly used as a tool to sexually abuse infants and teenagers. According to RAINN, perpetrators use sophisticated tactics to target vulnerable victims, gaining their attention, gifts, and sharing “secrets” to gain their trust and affection from their loved ones. physically or physically. These tactics are most often used by someone in the victim’s closest circle (family, friends, or authority figures such as teachers, coaches, and mentors) and can be particularly difficult to recognize. So did Nichols.
“He was easy to be with and enriched the parts of my life that needed to be enriched. I thought he hung the moon. He’s the best man ever And I loved how much he paid attention to me. I felt loved by him,” she says. “Why can’t you love the person who invested in you?”
But in reality, she says, it was a tactic that helped him gain her loyalty as their bond grew, ultimately keeping their relationship isolated until early in college. I got
“[I thought,] “This person really loves me and shouldn’t want to hurt me.” That happened to me [the relationship] I was wrong all along, but at that point I didn’t have the adult processing skills to think about the consequences of this,” she said. are not always aware of what is happening to them, they seek validation from all the adults around them.”
The relationship ended when Nicholls, now a filmmaker, decided to move to Los Angeles in her early 20s to pursue a career, she said. According to her, the teacher suffered no ill effects about their relationship, but he was later fired from his job after forming an inappropriate relationship with another student.
In the series, Nichols reached out to his teacher at a moment when he panicked for comment.
“I hadn’t spoken to him in about 10 years, and certainly never met him,” Nicholls told the Post. But to be honest, I was really worried about being pulled back into his web in a way.
And he was.
“He didn’t actually deny it directly, but he avoided the conversation in every possible way and focused on the college aspect. [of our relationship]’ said Nichols. He also denied the accusations against the producers of the series show.In a way, she regrets reaching out to him.
“I don’t advocate for victims to confront their abusers or abusers, nor do I ever defend the moment of confrontation. I didn’t know, it’s been a long road.”
Nicholls said that “Keep This Between Us” facilitated conversations about teenage grooming and some of the more subtle warning signs, such as parents in secret relationships, teachers, and those in positions of power that cross boundaries. I hope it helps you to discuss it with your child.
“We don’t spend a lot of time culturally thinking about what these subtle signs are. “If you’re complimented by a teacher in a way that makes you uncomfortable, there are immediate signs that you’re being targeted,” she said.
“Keep This Between Us” will premiere on Freeform at 9pm Monday as a two-night event and will be available to stream on Hulu.
