A boy, John McGill, gets a rough start on his education when a much older boy threatens him. Fearing for his life, he enlists the aid of his older brother, Benny, who can take care of business, and does. From this moment on, everything starts to get worse. Soon John finds himself part of a gang, nearly killing another boy (boys really), but it gets worse. One day he even beats his father (I think, or maybe his uncle) and then he is forced to live on the streets. There is definitely violence in this movie, but not so much as one would expect, and it's not so pointless as one could fear. John ...