Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, clear, and essential for educators
Review: This excellent and practical book rests on in-depth interviews at the scene of two school shootings and makes clear, research-based recommendations for schools. For all of us who have wondered why these shootings happened and what we can do to prevent them, this book is indispensable.
Stan Davis
http://www.stopbullyingnow.com

Rating:
Summary: Good Study On School Shootings
Review: I just finished reading this book and I thought that it was a well researched study about shool shootings(specificially focusing on the Paduch and Jonesboro incidents). I personally think that the best part about the book is that you get to learn about the long-term effects of these types of incidents(and puts to rest some notions, especially that the communities are unified, when this book shows that is clearly not the case), but the one problem that I do have with the book is that the author tends to repeat the same points over exessively.

Definitely recommended reading for educators and anyone who's intrested in the dymanics of school shootings.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful reading
Review: This is a pretty remarkable book. It is quite scholarly in nature, but gripping and accessible reading. As a teacher in a secondary school, I found it fascinating because it belies many of the popular misconceptions about schools and school shootings. It studies the students themselves, the school climates, the social pressures and situations, and the role of the family. I found myself nodding at various points and reading it aloud to whoever was in range. I have asked that it be ordered for our district's professional library. It's pertinent for any educator, but also for parents and concerned community members. It doesn't make me afraid, but it has made me reconsider some of the things I have taken for granted and it makes me more aware of student behavior and concerns. Above all it speaks to our need to better communicate within the school, and between the school and the family.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful reading
Review: This is a pretty remarkable book. It is quite scholarly in nature, but gripping and accessible reading. As a teacher in a secondary school, I found it fascinating because it belies many of the popular misconceptions about schools and school shootings. It studies the students themselves, the school climates, the social pressures and situations, and the role of the family. I found myself nodding at various points and reading it aloud to whoever was in range. I have asked that it be ordered for our district's professional library. It's pertinent for any educator, but also for parents and concerned community members. It doesn't make me afraid, but it has made me reconsider some of the things I have taken for granted and it makes me more aware of student behavior and concerns. Above all it speaks to our need to better communicate within the school, and between the school and the family.

Rating:
Summary: A readable study on a difficult subject
Review: With the thwarting of yet another rampage shooting making headlines in Massachusetts, and one that allegedly involves the son of a chief of police, the relevance of Katherine Newman's study has been dramatically underlined. I read the book as the parent of teenagers and found it both chilling and informative. Chilling because it appears that the discovery of such plots is still often fortuitous. The excellent analysis of why these shootings occur gives no easy reassurance but does offer some help for us to understand and, hopefully, points to some ways in which we can help abort other shootings. "Rampage" is informative because the authors study not just what led to the news headlines but include an examination of how the communities coped in the aftermath of the tragedies. The book is easily accessible to non-sociologists without being sensationalist in tone. I hope it is being read by many educators and parents.