‘The Bad Kids’: Educators Teach Empathy Instead Of Algebra In Sundance Docu

Wow! A new documentary called ‘The Bad Kids’ is making it’s big Sundance debut and it’s taking on the topic of at risk kids, and what a super special group of teachers and educators are doing to help them get through life without getting in trouble! What amazing people!

The director of the The Bad Kids Lou Pepe explains that the teens in his documentary all go to a high school in California’s rough Mojave Desert and that their principal and teachers have formed a curriculum around “empathy” and teaching them important life skills to grow into productive adults, as opposed to the usual hard core college prep subjects that most of these kids will never end up using.

“We walked in the doors and fell in love with the place, it was a really magical school,” he reveals in an interview from Sundance. Jennifer Cottfield, one of the students who is profiled, describes the experience as “scary” at first but that “I learned a lot about being confident in myself, having more self esteem and knowing my value because I’ve had so many people value me in the past few months.”

Aww, how wonderful. This sounds like such an amazing topic and we can’t wait to see it!

HollywoodLifers, have you ever had a teacher who made you feel super special?