by Lee Hirsch
Mobbing, or group bullying, is the most common form of violence experienced by children and adolescents, primarily at school. A topic often swept under the carpet or its effects played down, this phenomenon actually causes lasting damage. Filmmaker Lee Hirsch followed three adolescents affected by mobbing and their families over a one-year period. Punches, theft, insults, false accusations: such assaults from fellow pupils turn the daily lives of Alex, Kelby and Ja’Meya into a living hell. Hirsch records the physical and psychological violence most often experienced by people who do not fit prevailing ideas of the norm, and offers a platform where those affected, their fellow pupils, teachers and school managers can express themselves.