Throughout the movie, we are introduced to the families of Lou Anne Johnson's students. We never really get to meet Emilio's family accept for a brief moment. Emilio tells Lou Anne in the movie that he comes from a broken home and he is poor. Raul lives with both of his parents and has younger siblings. When Lou Anne visits Raul's home, the family is amazed and excited that the teacher is visiting. Raul's mother tells Lou Anne that he may be the first person in their family to graduate from high school. Their faces light up when Lou Anne tells them how bright and wonderful their child is, and Raul's attitude towards school begins to change. Callie lives with just her mother and younger sister. Callie becomes pregnant and feels that she has thrown away her future. Her school suggests that she transfer to Clearview, which is a place for her to learn how to become a mother and take care of her child. Callie's mother believes this is the best choice for her even though Lou Anne believes that Callie should be taking Advanced English and remaining at Parkmont. The school has swayed her decision to leave, as they do not like girls to be at school once their "problem" becomes visible to other students. We are also introduced to brothers, Durrell and Lionel. Lou Anne went to visit their home when they did not show up for class for an entire week. She is greeted by their mother who stresses that she didn't raise her children to be doctors. There is no need for them to be learning poetry. They need to make money to help pay the bills. She insists that Lou Anne leave her property, and the boys never return to school.
As you can tell, the students in Lou Anne's class come from low socio-economic status families. Emphasis is not placed on education, but more so on being able to pay the bills. This is why we are introduced to the "students from Hell." When families do not embrace their education or gifted talents, the students notice that education is not a priority and become underachievers. It is helpful for teachers to be familiar with problems within the family setting. Understanding these patterns will help the teacher be able to communicate more effectively with the family. (Davis, Rimm, and Seigle, 2011).
This video starts off with a fight between Emilio and Raul. It continues on by showing Lou Anne making visitations to the houses of Raul, Emilio and Gusmaro where you can begin to see the family dynamics of our main characters.
"If high achievement, positive attitudes, and constructive behavior are expected and reinforced by parents, they will become internalized by the child," (Davis et al., 2011, p. 419). Family dynamics can create a gifted achiever or a gifted underachiever. Poor family morale and family disruption caused by death or divorce are characteristics that are difficult to change. Continuing to show support for the gifted child and his / her education can help the child excel and achieve.
