From Indifference to Injustice: The Politics of School Violence

Abstract

The social structure of the school with its norms, values, beliefs, and practices ostracizes some students. By studying the behavior and motives of students who kill at school we will be better positioned to understand the role played by school officials and other students in creating an environment that ignores fundamental differences among students that lead to deadly school violence. In this article, Iris Young's theory of difference is used to explain why the Columbine shooting was inevitable from the perspectives of shooters Harris and Klebold. While Young identifies five faces of oppressions, she does not view those faces as cumulative. However, when viewed as cumulative, the fifth face of oppression—violence—seems to be the natural culminating outcome of the preceding four faces of oppression. Stopping school violence requires school officials to stop the verbal and physical taunting some students endure daily while at school.