Description:
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
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