Real Lessons from STRAW for School Leaders and Educators

Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen STRAW, I encourage you to pause here, watch the film, and return with fresh eyes. This reflection will mean more after the full experience.

Over the weekend, my aunt called and asked me, “Have you seen that new Tyler Perry movie, STRAW?”

I hadn’t. I’d scrolled past it a few times, uninterested. A thriller about a bank robbery gone wrong didn’t sound like something that would leave me feeling uplifted. But I value our conversations—so I said yes, and I’m happy I did.

This story isn’t about what happens—it’s really about what we miss.

From the first few scenes, we’re pulled into the chaotic life of Janiyah—a mother overwhelmed, overworked, and desperately trying to hold it all together. Her day unfolds like a slow-motion disaster: fighting eviction, begging for her paycheck, struggling to get lunch money for her daughter, and making one impossible choice after the next.

But what makes this story unforgettable isn’t just the tension—it’s the unraveling. The truth.

And it left me thinking more about something I’ve spent the last ten years navigating and helping others become aware of: emotional energy.

Janiyah: The Good Person Society Couldn't See

Even while her life spirals, Janiyah never stops being a good person.

• She gives her last bit of change to a man in a wheelchair.

• She corrects a customer trying to misuse WIC benefits.

• She pleads with her boss—not for extra money, but just the check she earned.

• She only wants to cash her paycheck—not steal.

• And even in the chaos of a hostage situation, she checks on her captives’ well-being.

  
  

In a society that constantly mistreats her, she continues to do the right thing. And yet, she is misunderstood, misjudged, and mislabeled. Why?

Because we live in a culture where it’s easier to assume than to understand. We look at behavior but rarely ask about the burden beneath it.

As viewers, we follow Janiyah’s story without interruption, never questioning the logic. Her daughter is discharged from the hospital in one scene at the beginning of the movie and heading to school the next. I paused for a moment—Should she be going to school? But I kept watching. I trusted what I was being shown.

It’s not until the final scenes that the truth hits: her daughter had passed away the night before. Everything we’d seen—the morning routine, the science project, the teasing at school—was an illusion crafted by grief.

And we believed it. Because that’s what trauma does—it hijacks the mind, and if we’re not paying attention, we go along with it.

The Energy Map: A Tool for Seeing What’s Beneath the Surface

As a former principal and now mindset coach, I’ve worked with countless individuals and teams who are stuck—not because they aren’t smart or capable, but because they’re operating from low levels of emotional energy. The Energy Map, inspired by the work of Dr. David Hawkins, helps us name the emotional state we’re in and offers a pathway to rise.

In STRAW, Janiyah lives primarily in the two lowest levels:

Level 1: Helplessness

“Why does everything happen to me?”“I’m powerless.”“Life is unfair.”

This is where we first meet Janiyah. She’s drowning, and her environment reinforces her powerlessness.

Level 2: Tension & Conflict

“This is frustrating.”“No one listens to me.”“I can’t stand this conflict.”

We see this as her anger surfaces—when she’s pushed, dismissed, and finally snaps.

There are flickers of Level 3: Ownership—moments where she tries to take control. But the film never lets her—or us—move into Level 4 (Servant Leadership) or Level 5 (Love). Tyler Perry keeps the viewer in the lower levels intentionally. Why? Because it’s a reflection of how so many people are living every day: stuck, hurting, just surviving.

So, How Do We Use This in Our Schools?

STRAW is more than a movie. It’s a teaching tool. A conversation starter.

In education, we often see students, parents, and colleagues through a behavioral lens: They’re late. They’re disrespectful. They’re unmotivated. But what if we paused and asked: What level of energy is this person in? What pain might they be carrying?

Using The Energy Map in classrooms, staff rooms, and leadership teams can help us:

• Recognize emotional patterns before they become problems.

• Create compassionate spaces that lift people into higher levels.

• Shift from judgment to curiosity—from reaction to response.

The Real Message

In the end, STRAW doesn’t give us resolution. It gives us revelation.

It’s uncomfortable. Unfinished. But that’s what makes it real. Because so many people don’t get the happy ending. They don’t get the support they need in time. They’re trying to hold it together while the world misunderstands them.

So, let’s stop missing what matters.Let’s start seeing each other.

Not just as coworkers or parents or students.But as human beings doing the best they can with what they’ve got.

I see you.

And I hope today—you see someone else.