Fine theoretical exploration of how self-panicked American adulthood would brutally custodialize all adolescents rather than confront the deserved horror of its own introspection.

Mike A. Males Mike A. Males, author of The Scapegoat Generation and Framing Youth

A sophisticated interpretation of recent violent attacks by students in American schools. Webber presents these troubling episodes of students shooting other students, teachers, and administrators as examples of 'domestic blowback' in the post-Cold War era. Committed by adolescents, struggling to find intellectual freedom as learners and personal autonomy as adults, these incidents are tied in her analysis to the 'hidden curriculum' of control in contemporary schooling. Ironically, she finds that the strategies of surveillance and containment, which so many educational authorities have mobilized to prevent future violent outbreaks, only hobble the development of the critical skills needed by students to survive in today's global economy and multicultural society.

Timothy W. Luke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

A powerful and provocative analysis of the politics, culture, and gender of spectacular school violence. Webber's sophisticated study merits reading by both prospective and practicing teachers, as well as school administrators and school board members.

William F. Pinar, St. Bernard Parish Alumni Endowed Professor, Louisiana State University