Twelve-year-old Sprotte has a 'gang' with her three friends Frieda, Melanie, and Trude. Together, the girls care for Sprotte's grandmother's chickens. The new girl in school, Wilma, wishes to join the group, which Melanie is very unhappy about, and on top of all of that they have an ongoing revalisasion with a group of boys.

The film tells the story of Jochen, who lives with his divorced mother and her boyfriend. The family relationship is tense, the mother looks on helplessly. Out of frustration, Jochen steals a chocolate bar. Alex, an older classmate, observes him and takes advantage of the situation: Jochen begins to steal on Alex's behalf. Soon he is caught and sent to a reformatory... A group of students from Bonn filmed Hans-Georg Noack's bestseller for young people. “Escalator Down” is the successful debut of young filmmakers and impressively shows how a 13-year-old begins to steal and ends up in a downward social spiral. The writer Noack was so enthusiastic about the Bonn student group's script that he gave them exclusive permission to film his work. The result is remarkable and the film is particularly recommended for these reasons.