Tracy Press

A documentary on bullying hits home with Tracy teens at Duncan-Russell High ...

By Danielle MacMurchy

Glenn Moore/Tracy Press - Filmmaker Erahm Christopher (from left) talks with Duncan-Russell High School students Sam Cabrera and Sarah Rowland after showing his film, “Teen Truth,” a student-shot production that features the topics of violence, bullying and ostracism in high school.

Throughout the past decade, school violence has surfaced in rural high schools of the Midwest, the affluent suburbs of the South and urban centers on the coasts. Six major school massacres have taken the lives of 36 and left more than 50 wounded.

Students at Duncan-Russell High School were asked Wednesday if they consider violence among Tracy teens an issue.

“I think a shooting could happen here,” 17-year-old senior Brittney Bibbs said. “There’s bullying everywhere you go.”

The discussion took place among about 40 students after a showing of “Teen Truth,” a documentary taped by 15 diverse high school students that gives viewers a raw look at bullying and school violence. It includes school shooting facts and authentic 9-1-1 tapes and security video from the Columbine High School shooting of April 20, 1999.

The pattern of school shootings in recent years motivated Erahm Christopher, a 30-year-old filmmaker and Linden native, to launch a project that would stir what he thinks is a much-needed discussion.

“I like to make films that make people think,” he said. “And I realized no one was asking teens what they thought.”

Christopher set out to give teenagers a medium to voice their concerns and to talk about bullying and school violence. He researched the history of violence in schools and spoke with teens throughout the state about their most crucial worries. He put video cameras in the hands of about a dozen high school students — some from inner-city Los Angeles high schools, some from Stockton schools and some from rural high schools — and asked them to film their senior years.

The 100 hours of raw footage brought to light issues like drugs, gambling, cliques, fist fights and peer pressure. Christopher, with the help of two other filmmakers, edited the footage to make the 22-minute “Teen Truth” documentary.

“Everywhere you go, there’s violence, gangs, drugs — you can’t get away from it,” said Duncan-Russell junior Sam Cabrera.

Sam was involved in drugs throughout his early high school years before entering rehab last year. He said solutions to the evils of high school are on the shoulders of each individual.

“I took it upon myself to change,” Sam said with a grin of satisfaction. “I changed my group of friends, my lifestyle. It’s hard, but the responsibility is on each of us.”

Bibbs, who transferred from West High School last year to attend Duncan-Russell, said peer pressure is one of the most common issues Tracy teens stress about. She thinks high enrollment in schools only fuels the flame.

“When you’re with 3,000 other students, everyone wants to fit in and teachers aren’t caring about the students,” she said. “The less people, the less drama.”

Brittney added that the community atmosphere of Duncan-Russell is one solution to teen violence. “It’s less tense here, and if you give respect then you’ll get respect.”

After the widely publicized Columbine shootings, Christopher said he noticed the skewed lens of the media portrayed shooters as insane and disturbed individuals.

“They were just lonely,” he said, after he read an insert from one of the shooter’s diaries Wednesday.

He should know. At 14, Christopher said he was a new student with few friends. One afternoon, he was threatened by a group of older boys. That evening he zipped up a shotgun and a box of shells into his school bag to take with him the next day.

“I don’t know what I was going to do with it, but I figured if I had a shotgun I would be alright,” he said. “Fortunately, my older brother caught me.”

Christopher’s “Teen Truth” video is shown in middle schools and high schools across the nation. He said other videos that specifically address drugs and gangs are under way.

At a glance

For more information on “Teen Truth,” visit www.myspace.com/teentruth.

To contact reporter Danielle MacMurchy, call 830-4280 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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