Odd Girl Out

I have always been intrigued by the fact that a school in general consists of two separate realities:the more or less controlled environment of the classroom and the unknown reality of what goes on between students once they are not supervised by their teachers. As a former educator myself, I can assure you that life at school for certain young people can be a living hell.Pestering occurs at every level: kindergarten kids who physically threaten their classmates in order to obtain candy, high-school students who desperately seek excuses as to avoid the humiliation and isolation they experience during recreation not to mention the subtle intrigues that occur at a university level."Humans" in general apparently have a genetically determined urge to reinforce their own feelings of self esteem by preying on easy victims. It is therefore of the utmost importance that parents be aware of the cruel reality that often exists in schools and pay close attention to any alarming change in attitude or conduct on the part of their children. "Odd Girl Out", sadly enough, is a brilliant account of events that are closer to reality than one initially would be willing to believe.Very convincing acting by Alexa Vega as the tormented youngster and Lisa Vidal as the anguished mother