Some moments stand out in our school-aged years so plainly that we could close our eyes and seemingly relive them. Memories like your first homecoming dance, going to prom, spirit week, your favorite teacher, and the big games on Friday nights.
Those moments help define your childhood; from elementary through high school—you keep those memories close to you.
Right now, children in school are experiencing some of the same traditions we all lived through and a slew of new ones that we didn’t. Our kids come home and tell us about lockdown drills and silent lunches; the days of eating lunch with your children are nonexistent in some districts across the country, and our kids’ safety seems more at stake than ever.
A new documentary called Bulletproof highlights those changes in schools and what they mean for our children, how violence in schools has changed almost everything.
The synopsis for the documentary is as follows:
“Bulletproof explores the complexities of violence in schools by looking at the strategies employed to prevent it. The film observes the longstanding rituals that take place in and around American schools: homecoming parades, basketball practice, morning announcements, and math class. Unfolding alongside these scenes are a collection of newer traditions: lockdown drills, teacher firearms training, metal detector screenings, and school safety trade shows. Bulletproof asks what these rituals reflect back at us, looking beyond immediate causes and responses to mass shootings in a cinematic meditation on the array of forces that shape the culture of violence in the United States.”
Of course, those age-old traditions are part of the framework of the childhood experience, but the newer ones, which carry a heavy weight, are eye-opening and heartbreaking all at once. The documentary has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its release this week.
Bulletproof is having a limited theatrical release and a digital one on October 29th.
Published: Oct 27, 2021 07:01 am