School Violence: In Only an Instant

Is there a problem with violence in schools? The video is prefaced with sound bites from interviews with silhouetted teenagers giving a resounding "yes," and citing specific examples. We then meet a teen focus group at an average American high school, who have gathered, albeit cynically, to explore the serious topic of student violence. A school survey points out that the adult faculty seem to be much less aware, whether through ignorance or deliberate blindness, that there is an issue. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to his peers or teachers, one of the focus group members has long been tormented, physically and verbally, by the school's quarterback. It takes a crisis, in which he confronts the bully publicly, to wake up the school to a very real and, unfortunately, common problem. The video does an excellent job of exploding stereotypes and assumptions such as "it's only a guy thing," or "only big inner-city schools have this problem," or "boys will be boys." Unfortunately, the production values leave much to be desired--the camera work is poor, the edits are odd, the acting is forced, and the sound is terrible. An important topic, granted, but we need better choices here. Not recommended. Aud: J, H. (E. Gieschen)