Jessie Klein: The Bully Society: School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America’s Schools

Abstract

In The bully society, Jessie Klein presents one of the most comprehensive analyses of the reports of 166 school shootings over three decades. Despite the broad time period the book encompasses, the reports present many similarities. The perpetrators in these school violence incidents targeted other students who have called them names or rejected them; or they have retaliated for the perceived injustices related to discipline or academic assessments done to them. Commonly known as ‘‘bullying’’, Klein attempts to share the stories of those who have been bullied or have witnessed bullying incidents to highlight the bullying issue that is facing today’s youth. Klein frames ‘‘bullying’’ as one of the most significant concerns among children today, and ultimately a predictor in school shootings. Chapter 1 describes how children learn that status is everything and although race and class are typical indicators of power, conforming to gender expectations is vital. The chapter describes how students become the ‘‘gender police’’ and how the actions cause issues with status and power in schools (Klein 2012). A key point the author makes from this chapter is the perception of status is passed down from parents to the children. For example, in an adult society, higher socioeconomic groups associate with similar groups to maintain their high status and is mirrored in high schools where cliques prevent lower socioeconomic groups from associating with more affluent groups (Klein 2012, p. 20). Both of these examples perpetuate a closed society, but it affects students more in the high schools. It is to be expected that youth within these closed groups would find it easier to bully outsiders. Chapter 2 focuses on masculinity, white supremacy, and the relevance of the different types of masculinity to school shootings and violence. Boys are expected to be powerful and dominant and anything less or a weakness, sadness, or forms of dependence would provoke teasing and/or being attacked. The main point from the chapter is that, regardless of the type of masculinity, boys experience social pressure to achieve ‘‘hegemonic masculinity in the US culture’’ (Klein 2012, p. 53) and to prove themselves as dominant. Klein incorporates the discussion of violence against girls in chapter 3. A key point in the chapter is that boys learn at a young age to be popular with the girls and how their masculinity can be exercised by exerting physical, emotional, or sexual control over them. In a number of the school shooting examples, Klein emphasizes that perpetrators specifically target girls who have rejected them and damaged their manhood (Klein 2012). This also applies to the discussion of sexual harassment and dating violence that is embedded in this chapter, for ‘‘girls and women who stay in abusive relationships are likely to continue being beaten, but those who leave are more likely to be killed’’ (Klein 2012, p. 59). Chapter 4 continues the discussion of masculinity from chapter 2 as it examines the fate of those who failed to meet the standards of masculinity and resultantly are labeled as gay in which gay bashing ensues. The basic premise of this chapter is that boys are expected to flaunt/brag about their sexual exploits with girls (flamboyant heterosexuality) and the failure to do so makes them vulnerable to harassment and assault by the gender police (Klein 2012). In contrast, chapter 5 focuses on girl bashing and how girls are judged by conventional standards (body type and attractiveness), pressuring them to be tough in today’s masculine society (Klein 2012). Consequently, they often use violence as a means to prove themselves, attributing to a higher incidence of violence among the D. Maynen (&) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: dmaynen@indiana.edu