Crack the Whip

Abuse-it is such a small word but it carries so many gigantic meanings. First grade teacher Stephanie discovers nearly every kind of mistreatment in her California classroom. From desperate poverty to physical and mental abuse, Stephanie tries to combat the horrible problem with caring concern but the more seasoned teachers keep telling her to just teach and stop trying to change the world. To Stephanie the injustice is intolerable even her stressed out law student husband fails to see why she wants to change the status quo. Stephanie feels that she is caught at the end of a line in the human equivalent of a massive game of Crack the Whip.

Stephanie is excited to to California and teach and support her student husband. The money is so much better than the rural district where she began her career. But she soon learns her salary is not enough to prevent a problem with her husband who is a full-time student who will not work. In addition to money problems, she is confronted with a classroom of abused children. When one of her student aides adds another problem to the mix, Stephanie's growing list of dilemmas overwhelms her.

Will she continue to fight for the downtrodden, or run?