I have seen many movies that teach very good lessons, but the one that teaches one of the best lessons in life would be Freedom Writers. It does not feature famous actors, but it tells a very good story. It is based on a true story and takes place in the 1990's when racial violence in Southern California corrupted. A new English teacher named Erin Gruwell, played by Hillary Swank, had her first freshman class filled with teens of different races (such as blacks, Hispanics, etc.). She would teach them that everyone suffers from this gang violence. A few examples of how everyone suffers from gang wars would be losing a friend or family member, being afraid to walk out the door, and huge family disputes. Mrs. Gruwell gave the students journals for them to write about their problems, and they allowed her to read them. Using these journals, she would help stop the gang wars and tell the students to be themselves.

Freedom Writers is geared toward teenagers (be aware of strong language and some violence though) as some may relate to these students about feeling different. They will learn, however, that the best thing to do is to just be you. If you like the movie, you might want to get the book The Freedom Writers Diary. The book features real diaries written by the real students from Mrs. Gruwell's class, and they tell their stories about their lives in these diaries. I'm pretty sure that some of you may relate to them as well.

One thing that I found interesting in the movie was when they had people from the Holocaust tell their stories to the students. This was because they were actually part of the Holocaust and the stories they told were real stories. One person in particular was a lady named Miep Gies, who was famous for helping Anne Frank. She told the students that they are the heroes and not she.

Now personally, I wouldn't rate Freedom Writers as a great movie, but it has a very strong lesson that is important for everyone. If you are thinking about seeing this movie, you won't be disappointed. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good movie to watch.