WORLD TEACHERS' DAY
Film takes aim at gangs and violence
October 1, 2009
Jennifer Brown
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
When James Flaherty set out to make a short film about gangs and bullying, he did it with his eyes wide open.
A teacher at Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School in Malton, he has seen the violence inflicted by gangs in the community.
"I've had former students who have been murdered. A kid I taught last year was murdered at the beginning of the summer at a house party. This is not just a theoretical thing, particularly here," says Flaherty, who teaches communication technology at the school, part of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board.
Before becoming a teacher 15 years ago, Flaherty was a filmmaker and had worked on an eight-minute anti-bullying film targeted more to secondary students. While researching bullying at local elementary schools, he discovered gang problems often begin at the lower level.
"I was surprised to hear that gang recruitment of these young kids was a real problem," he says.
Two years ago, he decided to make a longer film, with a full script and a more accurate portrayal of the situation on the street.
In creating his film, Mouse, which he wrote and directed, Flaherty worked with Peel Police's Strategic and Targeted Enforcement Program (STEP). He also consulted with Sgt. Dirk Niles, who "picked the script apart" to keep it authentic.
In Mouse, the main character, played by a 10-year-old Malton boy, is being bullied by kids at his school when he runs into a local gang. They solve his problem with the bullies, but he soon discovers there is a price to pay for that protection.
"One of the things that drove me to do this initially was that I could see the violence had been picking up," says Flaherty. "It was out of control here a year ago – the murder rate in Peel skyrocketed."
He says parents may question the script's direct connection between bullies and gangs, but he insists it's really not that big a leap.
"Bullying is a huge part of why kids get into gang activity. A lot of the time, kids are joining a gang for protection from bullies," he says.
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