A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent life in the infamous slums of Mexico City; among them Pedro, whose morality is gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.
Reform school teacher tries to carry his class to the right path by teaching them diving.
In lieu of prison, Lyle, a violent adolescent, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew—abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on by their grit and anger—becomes Lyle's last lifeline as he fights to find meaning in a world that seems to defy understanding.
Trouble finds Maeda, a good-for-nothing outcast with dreams of becoming a boxing champ, soon after enrolling at Teiken High School. His cavalier clumsiness has a way of attracting attention from gang leaders, school staff, and the precocious schoolgirl Chiaki. When a dangerous new gang leader threatens to upend order in the school, Maeda puts his training to work — along with every brain cell he can muster — to protect the balance of power.
A new teacher at a highly problematic comprehensive school feels that corporal punishment may just be inflaming the problems, and so begins to campaign against it.
A Liverpool gang member wins a singing contest is then called up for National Service where he clashes with another soldier.
A group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada.
Rural runaway finds himself in Manhattan.
Angel is released from juvenile detention on the eve of her 18th birthday. Haunted by her past, she embarks on a journey with her 10 year-old sister that could destroy their future.
Young men with no future have little in the present as well. Natale is released from prison: he takes up with his friends again but none can find work. Claudio, from Palermo, gets out of juvenile detention in Naples and he's met by Vita, a girl who's come from home to run away with him. Where can they go? A young dad, whose potato stall at the market is shut down because he has no permit, takes his two small children to the beach and yells at them. Mario, gay, a prostitute in drag, gets a visit from his mom; he offers tea, then finds the water to his apartment is shut off. Social workers drop by, parole officers file reports. What hope is there? What options besides crime?
An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.
An abandoned child steals to survive and has problems when he decides to steal from the priest who helps him.
Marco, a teacher from Milan, relocates to Palermo and takes a temporary job teaching in a juvenile detention centre while he waits for a high school teaching position. He tries to understand and motivate his handful of students, encouraging them to stand up for their rights, finding out about their histories: Natale, in for murder and enamored with the Mafia; Pietro, who can't seem to stay out of jail; Claudio, barely 14 and learning to stand up for himself; and Mery, a trans sex worker, who was arrested after a fight with a trick who didn't want to pay her, and is now stuck in a male prison.
Del and his friends agree to take part in a robbery with a boy fresh from the borstal prison. When Del falls in love with Irene they decide to run away from their nagging parents - and the law.
The Black Widows, a teenage girl gang, find one of their number killed. They blame her murder on Barbara, the on-again-off-again girlfriend of the leader of rival gang The Vandals. As the gangs prepare for a fight, we take a glimpse into their tumultuous home lives.
In the closed community of a reform school for teenagers, the principal's daughter is found sexually molested. The schoolgirls seem to know more than they are willing to tell.
The Hellcats are an all-female gang bent on bucking authority at their high school. New student Joyce moves into the neighborhood and quickly draws their attention. Desperate for acceptance and unhappy with her home life, she becomes close to the Hellcats and begins drinking, dancing and meeting boys. Can Joyce's parents stop her descent into depravity?
Brooklyn youth Frank Cusack, good son and brother by day, is a gang member by night. The Dukes, seemingly likable dead-end-kids, are dangerously involved with racketeer Gaggsy Steens. Despite the efforts of Franks's parents, he and pal Benny get involved in a serious crime. Can Stan Albert, head of the community center, prevent them from becoming full-time crooks?
Fifteen Black men gather in South Central LA to take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in October 1995. Among the attendees are an eclectic set of characters, including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a Black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the March, including manhood, religion, politics, sexuality, and race.
Vienna in the late 90s. VHS footage reveals the video-diary of Markus and Ana, a young unemployed couple. Boredom and the need for an adrenaline fix pushes them into a spiral of theft, alcohol and drugs.