Sydney Whitehorn 3rd Period Sociology December 17, 2012 Freedom Writers Diary The Freedom Writers Diary

is the true story of an English teacher named Erin Gruwell and her first teaching assignment in Long Beach, California, working with students other teachers deemed "unteachable." She quickly learned that her students had more to worry about than homework; her students went home to gangs, drugs, abuse, and many other difficult situations and they were all divided into four racial divisions. The students were convinced that they had nothing to learn from a white woman who had never experienced firsthand the violence, discrimination, and hatred that was part of their everyday lives. One day, Gruwell intercepted a note being passed between students containing a racist hate picture. She told her class that it was this sort of hate and misunderstanding that led to the Holocaust and was shocked to learn that her students had never heard of it before. This was a major turning point in the story because at this moment Gruwell decided to take action in changing the lives of her students. She introduced her class to Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and also provided every student with a journal in order for them to have a place to discuss their feelings, their fears, and their experiences. For the first time, the students took an interest in academics. To bring this history to life, the students organized a "Read-a-Thon for Tolerance" to raise money to bring Miep Gies, the woman whose family hid Anne Frank, to their school. The group went on to receive tremendous recognition from the media and from the government,

hoping that others would find inspiration in their story of success. Almost all of the Freedom Writers graduated from high school and went on to college. It is likely that none of their achievements would have been possible without Gruwell's fierce determination and perseverance. My favorite scene from the movie is when one of the boys asked to read from his diary. He wrote about getting evicted from his house leaving him and his family homeless over the summer. He couldnt afford to get back to school clothes or a new haircut. He felt very sad and vulnerable coming back to school but then he realized that he did have a home: Mrs. Gruwells classroom. He said that when he comes to her class, all the pain and sorrow goes away and he is happy again. This scene was really important to me because it showed the huge impact that Erin Gruwell had on the lived of her students. I really enjoyed this film for a variety of reasons. The main reasons being that it brought awareness to the matter of injustice in educational systems and to the challenges that some students face outside of school. It also gave the audience a deeper look into the lives of troubled teens . Many people look at gang members and high school dropouts with disgust because they dont take time to realize or even care about what may have caused that teenager to become that way and once theyve labeled these teens as troubled it causes them to lose all hope and just fall deeper into the crack theyre in. This movie is very inspirational and motivates its audience to make a change within their society and for that reason I absolutely loved it.