Growing Up in the 70s: Cipher in the Snow

My friend Jim and I are going to see Rush in concert in September. That’s been a lifelong dream of mine (yes, I’m a man of big dreams). In tribute to all the wonderful aspects of coming of age in the 1970s and 80s, I’m going to run an occasional series on some of the cultural touchstones for those of us who are proudly GenX.

First, a movie that was shown every year in my elementary school. It’s called Cipher in the Snow. It’s from 1974. The plot is basically this: A kid can’t get a seat on the bus, so he asks to get off, whereupon he dies in a snowbank. Cause of death: no one was nice to him.

Watch it below, in two parts, and tell me if you can believe that they showed this to 3rd graders.