Contemporary Issues Companion - School Violence (Hardcover Edition) [Hardcover]

Bryan J. Grapes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2000 | Series: Contemporary Issues Companion

Despite evidence that school violence is in decline, a string of highly publicized mass shootings in American schools has inspired a sense of panic in parents and school officials. Contributors provide insight into the possible causes of violent behavior in students and suggest potential remedies. (20020601)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-An array of essays, personal accounts, case studies, statistical articles, and commentaries on this important topic. The introduction defines school violence in its historical context and includes current statistics and legislation. Separate sections are devoted to the nature and causes of school violence and means of prevention. Each selection is introduced with a summary paragraph as well as with a biographical blurb about its author. Several pieces were written in reaction to the Columbine shootings. This title will be useful for reports, speeches, debates, and research papers. Younger students may find Francha Roff Menhard's School Violence (Enslow, 2000) or Gus Gedatus's Violence at School (Capstone, 2000) more suited to their needs. An annotated list of related organizations is appended.
Sylvia V. Meisner, Allen Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-12. This gathering of opinion is sure to pique interest from both students and educators. Instead of a distant, political exploration of the topic, the essays in this volume offer personal, more emotional arguments. Early sections explore just how pervasive school violence actually is. Citing devastating examples of the problems in both the inner city and high-income suburban areas, the book quickly convinces readers that the issue is worthy of everyone's consideration. From there, arguments are made more powerful thanks to personal narratives about everything from individual bullying to massacres. The last section presents seven solutions, from moderate (enforcing student dress codes) to extreme (arming all teachers), for combating violence. Throughout, the book is tense, passionate, and timely. The appended list of organizations to contact is longer than usual. Roger Leslie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 15 and up
  
• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: Greenhaven Press; 1 edition (February 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0737703326
• ISBN-13: 978-0737703320
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,468,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Debunking the myth- the ugly and the very ugly about school, July 30, 2001

By 

Alex (College Park, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Contemporary Issues Companion - School Violence (Hardcover Edition) (Hardcover)

"School Violence" turned out to be a pleasant surprise in that it avoids the usual "quick-fix" proposition: waging total war on commercial entertainment. Instead it takes a more personal and immediate approach, focussing on the actual conditions at the schools, interviewing the survivors, examining the shooters as individuals, and proposing direct measures to curb the violent behaviors. In doing so, the articles also paint an amazingly dark picture of the American schools: violent, rotten places where the kids are poorly supervised, where the teachers are indolent and vengeful, and where no one does anything to stop even the mot injurious forms of bullying. Some of thes first-hand accounts are so grim as to be unbelievable (Dixon, "Six Years of Horror"). On the other hand, the book sometimes edges into saccharine melodrama familiar from syndicated TV hungry for happy endings: "We are Columbine" - "We will always be Columbine!" - "Columbine forever."

The organization is strong and intuitive. The book is subdivided into four sections: trends and tendencies, causes, first-hand accounts, and possible solutions. The first section isn't particularly informative, failing to draw any but the vaguest of answers, failing to portray the scope of the problem in any meaningful way, or just tossing around some tired accusations (the ubiqitous Mr. Males sneaked into this volume as well, and his arguments are particularly caustic). "Causes", the second section, is where I expected the book to fall on its face. Fortunately, "School Violence" unites all sermons on the evils of pop culture into a single unconvincing harangue ("For most kids, however, the popular culture is acting as a coarsener, a desensitizer, and a dehumanizer... (60)"). The remainder of the arguments include some that are not often heard, such as the possible link between psychiatric drugs and school violence and the loopholes in the individuals-with-disabilities laws. Best of all, the book does not treat the perpetrator of violent acts as degranged monsters - fittingly, "School Violence" addresses all forms of school violence, treating them as the culmination of the abusive social climate at schools.

The third section came as a surprise: these first-hand accounts are hard to find. The ones in this book are particularly revealing, debunking the majority of media myths about Harris and Klebold (the Columbine shooters).

However, the measures proposed in the fourth section seem drastic and counterproductive in comparison to the ealier arguments: increased penalties and involving the criminal justice system at schools (to get troubled students out of the system ASAP), increased monitoring, screening, and pat-searching, even arming the teachers(!?). There are a few "nice" articles, but they get lost.

Of course, the book isn't without flaws. I suspect it of playing on my interests and preconceptions more than once. Frequently I cringed at toxic logic along the lines of "there are so few boundaries for kids these days, with the drug use and violence, so if we give them some limits, that's good (126)". To quote another rotten apple: "We thought about letting our child make this decision, but decided it was unfair to turn the problem over to him (108)." Here's particular passage the made my blood rush to my face:

"If it's the assassination of a president, the bombing of a federal building, or the mass murder of high-school students by wigged-out teenagers full of pubescent resentment, plugged-up hormones, and the mental and moral garbage regularly served them by their schools, their televisions, their movies, their music, their books, their government and their newspapers, then it has to be because "the right" is on the move... these young men [Harris and Klebold] grew up in the make-believe world concocted by liberalism, a fantastic place where race and sex mean nothing; where violence and crime don't exist and guns have no function and no meaning, even as toys;... where people who adhere to "RACISM!" deserve to have their arms torn off and be burned, and... healthy young men whose genes and glands and brains drive them to aggression, are simply blank slated to be shaped, twisted, and scribbled over by "anger management" programs...(82-84)"

I'm still at a loss to deduce what that contributor's agrument actually is. Fortunately, the useful portions far outnumber such garbage.