Lunchbox Bullies

Encounters, South African Film Festival happens this month and today, a group of friends and I went to watch the documentary, "LunchBox Bullies."

This elegantly narrated film about the "naughty" children in school attributes poverty and lack of parental education as reason's for the children's decision to carry out theft and deviance in school.

They steal lunch boxes from other children because they are hungry.
They beat up others because they were beaten at home.
They tell lies because their mothers do the same to them.

One of the most memorable lines in the film for me was when an aunt (care taker) of this naught boy said, "He is lying when he said I used a knife to beat him. I just beat him using a wooden spoon until it broke. I am keeping it to show his children how I used to discipline him when he was younger... I am keeping it safely."

Another has separated parents and lives with his mom, who uses the money to drink all the time, leaving him hungry and astray. At the same time, his parents are also victims of this cascading social problem of poverty and lack of education.

We had a good Question and Answer session with the producers who said that one of the ways to lead this children back on track is to give them motivation and respect; the love and the care that they need.

This fits in with the objectives of Help2Read, and this film motivates me to do the volunteering with Help2Read as well. It was a very impactfull film for me, and I would encourage you to watch it, if you have a chance. Here's the excerpt of the film:

LUNCHBOX BULLIES
South Africa

Despite comprehensive guidelines (Section 28 of the Bill of Rights), children in South Africa face more challenges to their health and well-being today than ever before. Through frank and often heartbreaking interviews with children, Lunchbox Bullies
highlights the difficulties that often lead to children bullying each other. A selection of bullies’ lives are chosen and examined, going beneath the surface of abuse, malnourishment and tragedy to starkly show the roots of violence in our society.

Yet despite the socialist leaning, the film commendably tackles the breadth of reasons
behind why a child may go bad, asking startling questions about inherent psychology
as well as society’s role.

-------------------------------------------------------