Amazon.com Review
When suburbs like Littleton, Jonesboro, and Paducah become synonymous with school violence, it's a rare voice that speaks out against beefing up security measures. As the director of the National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment and Alternatives at Temple University, Irwin A. Hyman has seen many of the nation's schools retire their paddles, but as widely publicized school shootings linger in the national memory, he may have a harder time selling his pitch against increased use of metal detectors, surveillance cameras, drug testing, and campus cops. Hyman and his co-author, psychiatric nurse Pamela A. Snook, argue that today's educators are abusing these tactics in a toxic form of discipline that is undermining students' sense of justice and emotional well-being.
There are normal rules for safety, they say--and then there are violations of students' rights. The problem with Dangerous Schools is that many of its examples of the latter don't actually outrage. They often seem exaggerated or one-sided, sometimes from a lack of details. They do, however, provide helpful advice for parents who feel their children have been wrongly punished (plus an accurate insider's look at how schools often deal with such complaints). Families responding to an over-the-top disciplinarian could benefit most from key chapters. But as an attempt to curb police tactics on today's campuses, this argument will be lucky if it's heard over the din of metal detectors. --Jodi Mailander Farrell
From Publishers Weekly
Many parents, students and educators would agree that school can be a very dangerous place. But according to Dr. Hyman, a Temple University education professor, educators are more likely to be the perpetrators of violence than students. Hyman, who began studying school violence in the 1970s, cites exaggerated media reports as the cause for public misperception about the problem. Though he insists that his aim is not to bash teachers, he clearly points the finger at educators for creating an environment that both provokes students to be violent and renders them helpless at the hands of excessively punitive educators. Admitting that "during their careers, the majority of teachers do not intentionally or maliciously maltreat children," Hyman applies the word "abuse" with a broad brush, ranging from obvious physical punishments like paddling to such psychological mistreatment as when a teacher does not acknowledge a student with his hand raised. Other potentially dangerous situations include employing undercover police officers, excessive prescribing of Ritalin and other such drugs, strip searches, drug searches, drug testing and suspension. The majority of "brutalized" students, Hyman asserts, are from poor or working-class families. While his recognition of the inequities in the administration of corporal punishment and emphasis on seeking effective alternatives are undoubtedly laudable, Hyman fails to acknowledge the deleterious effects that chronic student misbehavior can have on the educational process. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
