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Why Have Cruelty and Violence
Become a Normal Part of Our Children’s Education?
School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America’s Schools
Twelve years after the Columbine High School massacre, school
shootings have gone from a rare, shocking aberration to a frequent, yet
still shocking, tragedy. Despite ubiquitous zero-tolerance policies, school
violence continues. Even if they’re not getting beat up or shot at, students
routinely endure verbal assaults and merciless torment from other students
—often as teachers look the other way, or worse, join in. For many
children and teens across the country, school feels like a hostile,
oppressive, and dangerous place.
Why has vicious bullying become commonplace in school? In The
Bully Society: School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in
America's Schools (New York University Press; March 2012; $29.95
Cloth; ISBN: 0814748880), sociologist Jessie Klein delves into the roots
of school violence in all its forms, from “everyday” bullying to shooting
rampages to the alarming rise in adolescent depression and suicide. As
Klein makes clear, bullying among young people is provoked by larger
economic and cultural trends, reinforcing the values of high social status
as well as values associated with masculinity—such as dominance and
aggression. “To make schools safe,” Klein stresses, “we need to examine
the pervasive forces that turn them into gender police training grounds.”
To get to the core of bullying, Klein draws on extensive studies and
firsthand interviews with victims in schools from rural, inner-city, and
wealthy suburban communities, along with her twenty-plus years of
experience in education. Throughout, she shares the stories of men,