It is 1969 and the world is changing. It is changing for 13-year-old Frits living in rural Denmark too. When he starts a new school, two new teachers come into his life. One introduces Frits to new music and the Civil Rights movement. The other is the old fashioned, authoritarian headmaster, who thinks it is acceptable to use corporal punishment. He takes a dislike to Frits and one day he goes too far, injuring him badly when punishing him. Frits has a strong sense of justice. Inspired by the images of Martin Luther King and protests against the Vietnam War he sees on television, his teacher Freddie and his own interest in the abolition of slavery, he decides to stand up for himself against his bullying headmaster.