6 pages paper——It's due at 10 p.m. on April 14（ Aristotelian Argument ）

American Academy of Political and Social Science

Violence in Schools: Rage against a Broken World Author(s): J. Scott Staples Source: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 567, School Violence (Jan., 2000), pp. 30-41 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049492 . Accessed: 26/01/2011 16:27

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sage. .

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Sage Publications, Inc. and American Academy of Political and Social Science are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

http://www.jstor.org

ANNALS, AAPSS, 567, January 2000

Violence in Schools: Rage Against a Broken World

By J. SCOTT STAPLES

ABSTRACT: Violence in schools is a grave issue that is often ana- lyzed in terms of individuals' tendencies toward destructive behav- ior. While this path of analysis is important, in this article, the author contextualizes violence within a cultural milieu that alienates stu- dents from their fundamental yearning for significance. It is argued that violence is a failed epiphany, that is, a heightened moment of awareness emerging out of the everyday flow of experience that seeks to overcome alienation. Violence fails because it cannot create a world of sustainable meaning. The nature of productive epiphanies and the worlds of sustainable meaning that they evoke are discussed in terms of their implication for education and overcoming violence in schools.

J. Scott Staples, a psychologist, has taught at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Mount Aloysius College, Cresson, Pennsylvania, where he was chair of the Social Science Department. He has written on punishment and cruelty.

30

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS 31

T HE specter of violence in our schools raises grave issues for

our nation, our communities, and the meaning of our lives. Random acts of violence in schools provoke us, threaten us, and challenge us to come to grips with what amounts to an insidious and growing form of destructiveness. The tendency to analyze violence in terms of the par- ticulars of the perpetrator's psycho- logical, familial, and social abnor- malities has a legitimate place in the discussion of school violence. Cer- tainly, interpersonal violence is, for the most part, forceful action taken by individuals that harms others, either intentionally or as a means to an end. Yet, such assessment leaves us with a sense that the monstrous- ness of violence is simply a matter of individual aberrations that may be due to unconscious conflicts and learned behaviors; it leaves us with the conviction that violence is some- thing that festers in the being of cer- tain individuals waiting to explode, from time to time, within our midst.

In such an analysis, violence is an alien intruder in an otherwise coher- ent, creative, and peaceful world. We may grieve for the victims of vio- lence. We may even grieve for the perpetrators, seeing them as twisted by their situations into violators of an otherwise healthy and well- functioning world. But what if vio- lence is more than this? What if vio- lence is a sign, an indicator that something at root is wrong? That vio- lence, then, is a call to look anew at school, at society, at the very every- day structures that are basic to the lives of our young.

In this article, I will argue that violence in our schools exists in increasing proportions because the fundamental yearning for signifi- cance has been thwarted or per- verted by the cultural milieu in which we live. The need for meaning in life is not addressed thematically in our culture or in our schools. The world in which our young live- indeed, in which we live-is essen- tially broken. We live fragmented lives in which work, for most people, provides little emotional, social, or spiritual sustenance beyond the nec- essary fulfillment of basic needs and in which leisure becomes, for the most part, distraction. An educa- tional system that addresses the need for meaning both in life and in preparation for work is sorely lack- ing. No amount of technical prepara- tion for the job market, however important, will ever speak to this deeper yearning for significance. Until we find a way to address this issue, violence will continue unabated because it is a response to the distortion of our fundamental yearning for meaning. As this article will indicate, it is from an analysis of violence itself that the possibility for overcoming violence emerges.

CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF VIOLENCE

Schools mirror the culture in which they are situated. As such, schools reveal the problems created by cultural values, especially when these values conflict with primordial human issues. The essential conflict between a materialist culture that

32 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

advocates consumption of goods and services as the primary road to per- sonal fulfillment, and the fundamen- tal yearnings of individuals for a sense of significance, which cannot find completion in such consump- tion, is an essential element in the foundation of our broken world.

Consumerism promises more than it delivers. Like the fundamental yearning for significance, consumer- ism begins in a lack basic to our hu- man condition. A consumerist cul- ture attempts to fulfill this lack by the acquisition of objects whose value diminishes upon purchase. The re- sult is greed-psychologically, the need to acquire more and more in or- der to assuage the encroaching sense that the lack still remains. Indeed, as Baudrillard (1983a, 1983b; Poster 1988) argues, the postmodern con- sumer society is a society in which meaningful social relationships, con- tent, and substance have been ex- punged. He says that the communi- cations technology and the media serve the ideology of corporatism through selling images of objects as moments in a series of images rather than selling the products for their actual use value. Commenting on Baudrillard, Henry (1991) observes that in such a culture

consumers do not simply buy chocolate or perfume, but sensation, a drug experi- ence: "Sweet dreams you can't resist" (Nestle's ad). ... Consumption of a prod- uct is consumption of the image to receive its illusion, irrespective of the material function as in perfume for sex appeal, toothpaste for self-confidence, cars for eroticism, soft drinks for friendship and popularity ... Social life in America... is

a simulation, only real by reference to the hyperreal. As a result, any possibility of real social relations and meaning constructed to symbolize them is re- moved. (76)

When an object is consumed, it is the symbolic meaning that gets transferred to the consumer, but that meaning is tantalizing, transient, and elusive-a mirage. Over a hun- dred years ago, Emile Durkheim dis- cussed this in his analysis of suicide. He described the pursuit of individ- ual rather than social goals as the context for the fragmentation of the collective morality. This condition he called "anomie," wherein the society is unable to regulate the unrestricted appetites and desires of its members. Indeed, he said that arousing their greed opens up an insatiable "thirst for novelties, unfamiliar pleasures and nameless sensations, all of which lose their savor once known" (Durkheim [1897] 1951, 256).

As will be seen later, the funda- mental yearning for significance, absent in a postmodern consumer society, fulfills itself only in mean- ingful relationships within a world that can sustain such relationships. For consumerism, on the other hand, relationships are secondary; acquisi- tion is primary. In such a world, indi- viduals become little more than func- tionaries to fulfill each other's symbolic needs and not persons of worth and value.

Along with greed, boredom and distraction are also central psycho- logical elements in the creation of the broken world. Boredom and distrac- tion are intimately related. Boredom, a mood of listlessness in which

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS 33

nothing seems to hold interest and from which one must, nonetheless, escape, is often the motivating force that leads one to distract oneself. Distraction provides relief from bore- dom, and, interestingly enough, greed often becomes a great distrac- tion, for in greed, one can lose oneself completely in the pursuit of that which one does not have.

Greed, boredom, and distraction as elements of a broken world lead the individual to seek escape from the immediacy of the fundamental yearning for significance in a crazed dialectic that never resolves itself. Greed sated leads to boredom, which seeks to escape through distraction or a return to greed. In this process, the fundamental desire for fulfill- ment by engagement in a meaningful world gets passed over.

The broken world is a world lost to its deepest callings: the fundamental yearning for significance through engagement in the processes of reflection, creativity, compassion, and the gift of self to others. In a cul- ture in which distraction has become an art form, in which the essential issues of meaning are, for the most part, covered over, it should not sur- prise us that our children have become infected by apathy, aliena- tion, and violence, for these are unconscious recognitions that the fundamental yearning has been thwarted.

ALIENATION IN SCHOOLS

Toward what is violence in school directed? In the main, this question is easily answered. Violence is

directed toward the victims of vio- lence, or at least, toward the mean- ing that its victims have for the per- petrators. But this meaning is in part derived from and must be contextu- alized within a world in which vio- lence has become an almost ordinary possibility. My daughter graduated from high school 12 years ago. Her inner-city school was racially mixed, culturally diverse, and populated by an energetic, dynamic student body guided by a caring, dedicated, if over- worked, faculty. Her educational and social experience there opened worlds of meaning and significance for her. She was challenged to think and develop, to enter the clamor and clash of ideas. She tasted the joy of learning. It was no heaven; there were many problems. Nonetheless, real learning took place for her and her classmates.

Today, when one enters her school, one is greeted by metal detec- tors and uniformed guards. One has the impression of danger. A forebod- ing atmosphere plagues the institu- tion. Clearly, the security measures may be necessary insofar as some students have become dangerous to each other and their teachers. Yet, it is clear that such an atmosphere makes genuine education difficult.

Schools transformed by the possi- bility of violence manifest the broken world-a world of fragmentation where the sheltering and care of the young, basic to any meaningful edu- cational process, have been displaced by fear. The educational environ- ment is compromised in a number of ways. First, the primary concern of most educators is maintaining

34 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

discipline in the classroom, for dis- ruptions are regular events in many schools.

In addition, the value of education as a path to an enriched encounter with the world, an adventure in thought, gives way to an obsession with calculation and the mere prepa- ration for college or career. Students are, for the most part, turned off by an educational system that does not speak to their need for purpose. Their alienation is a natural result of this lack of felt meaningfulness.

Central to the students' alienation is the externalization of learning. As more emphasis is placed on technical knowledge, there is less concern for the development of the individual. The acquisition of skills becomes the primary concern. While mastery of particular areas of technique does provide the student with a sense of competence in a specific area, it does not speak to the issues of creativity, relatedness, and responsibility that invite the student into a world of significance.

In other words, much of what passes for schoolwork is essentially alienating in that it does not speak to the deeper needs of personhood. Rarely are students invited into the actual conversation regarding mean- ing. They are not asked regularly to consider what the good life is or what truth and beauty are and how these ideas affect one's existence. By merely preparing students for work or college and by emphasizing the external perspective through our grading and ranking processes, we fail to invite students to discover the internal transformation possible in education.

Beyond the alienation brought on by a functionally dominated curricu- lum is the intensification of this alienation by the encounter with a future that is essentially meaning- less. Often, when the young look to the future-that is, when they look at the lives of those on whom they are asked to model themselves-they are faced with a world that fails to inspire, a leveled-down world with- out hope for insight or rapture. Ram- pant alcoholism, drug use, and mass media that titillate and horrify lead to the conviction that life is a sordid affair. Even those who are successful seem to achieve their power and status by using others. The optimism of the young is dealt a savage blow by such insight.

VIOLENCE AS A FAILED EPIPHANY

The alienation of our young in schools grows out of the dialectic of greed and boredom, the emphasis upon calculation, and the sense that the young live facing a dead future. Violence is often merely a response to the emptiness in which they find themselves. Addiction, mental ill- ness, and a pervasive sense of pur- poselessness are also responses to this condition. The alienation of many of our young in the face of materialism stands as the uncon- scious realization of their broken world-a world that offers diversion and consumerism but no longer speaks to their deeper yearnings. The consumerist world is all glitter and shine, but it offers no enduring significance.

What is the meaning of violence in school in the context of alienation,

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS 35

greed, and boredom? As psycho- therapist Amory Clarke conveyed to me in 1998, all violence is a reaction to feelings of powerlessness, to a kind of psychic impotence. Within the school system, violence provides an outlet for the inarticulate yearnings not given voice in the educational system, and it does so in destructive ways. As such, violence breaks through the crust of despair, momen- tarily, only to fall back upon the ground of hopelessness out of which it emerged.

Consider the following example, taken from my clinical practice, to illuminate the nature of violence. A client of mine, Bob, described a situa- tion that took place when he was in college. He and a friend, John, had been invited to a party. John was a small, stocky man who had been a lightweight wrestling champion in high school. The two of them went to the party, and, after mingling with the people there, most of whom they did not know, they settled into con- versation with each other. Although welcomed by their host, Bob and John felt a distinct chill from many of the other guests.

The chilly atmosphere was con- firmed when Bob and John were rudely confronted by two large men informing them that because this party was a gathering for a specific social club, of which Bob and John were not members, they were not welcome. Bob, shamed and embar- rassed by this public declaration, prepared to leave when, looking up, to his astonishment saw that John, small though he was, had seized the man who had confronted him, grab- bing him by the throat and the belt,

and hoisted him over a freezer. Then, according to Bob, "John looked over at me as if to say, 'Well, I've taken care of my bully; what are you going to do?' " Instantaneously, Bob felt his shame and embarrassment lift.

Energized by his friend's act, Bob, who was holding a beer bottle in his hand, as was the man confronting him, broke his bottle over a counter and, holding the sharp and deadly weapon before his tormentor's face, said, "Break your bottle." His oppo- nent began to quake and mumble. Bob noted, "It was as if this giant, who had humiliated me, had now become a dwarf. I felt vindicated for all the times I had failed to stand up for myself and had endured shame and humiliation at the hands of men like him. When he refused to break his bottle because he saw my inten- sity, I did not feel relief; I felt disap- pointment. I wanted him to make a move, so that I could hurt him."

In the immediate aftermath of this incident, Bob and John left the party. Stepping out into the wintry cold, Bob noticed steam coming off his friend from the exertion and exhila- ration of their confrontation. John, turning toward Bob, grabbed him by the shirt and said, "Wasn't that beautiful?"

As this example reveals, violence evokes a vivid world. Violence momentarily breaks through the lived structures of shame, doubt, boredom, or apathy to reveal the world in vital encounter. In violence one is fully engaged, alive in the moment- present and unencumbered. The problem of violence is that it achieves this moment of vivid encounter with the power of human agency through

36 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

a negative action that causes harm to others and, in so doing, returns the perpetrator to an awareness of his destructiveness. For those with a conscience, an act of violence can often serve to awaken them to their ability to do evil, as was the case with Bob. He recognized that his desire to hurt the man who had confronted him, while invigorating, posed a great danger. Many who lack Bob's reflective ability simply get caught in a cycle of violence--caught by the momentary liberation from a de- meaned self through the experience of explosive power essential to violence.

So it is with institutionalized schooling. In America, this has become a routinized process, lacking sustained meaningfulness. It is expe- rienced by many students as a bor- ing, fearful series of daily rituals that have to be endured as a means to some future end, one not even decided by the students themselves. This can be frustrating. It can remind students of their powerless- ness. It can invoke anger. That gen- eralized anger can be aroused through the accumulation of pockets of indignities that some students load onto others, creating a concrete, visible target for their angst. Vio- lence seems, momentarily, to be the solution.

Violence, then, is a response to a broken world. As a symptom, vio- lence is explosive and dangerous. As a call, violence points to the need to heal the broken world by cultivating the possibilities of vivid encounter. The key to the issue is engagement in a constructive process of renewal

that points beyond violence by giving voice to the fundamental yearning for meaning suppressed in moder- nity by its overemphasis on func- tional relations. Violence itself pro- vides a hint in this regard.

To summarize, the act of violence is an attempt to escape from a sense of meaninglessness. In this attempt, violence momentarily achieves a breakthrough into a world of felt meaningfulness. The sense of power and agency experienced in violence provides an epiphany that relieves the actor of the existential weight that he or she has been under. Expe- rientially, violence, for all its danger, is immediately felt to be a liberation from a condition of psychospiritual oppression. It is precisely this sense of liberation, which may be only momentarily encountered by the subject and may not even rise to the level of concrete awareness, that makes violence a powerful force for so many young people and, as such, intensely addictive.

To achieve a renewal of human possibility that transcends violence, we must come to grips with the prom- ise of liberation momentarily experi- enced in the act of violence. Violence as a fallen quest for liberation from a felt sense of oppression or meaning- lessness reveals itself as concordant with the deepest yearnings for mean- ing. Yet in its negative form, this lib- eration through violence cannot sus- tain its promise. It remains merely a glimpse at possibility, a glimpse that risks destroying the very human agency that created it. Violence is a failed epiphany, that is, a momen- tary opening upon a world of po-

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS 37

tential significance that fails because it cannot sustain a meaningful world and thus collapses back into mean- inglessness. Nonetheless, violence provides a guide into the nature of the epiphany as a quest for meaning- fulness toward a sustainable world of significance. The structure of the epiphany and the creation of a sus- tainable world of significance provide the antidote to violence.

EPIPHANY AND THE SUSTAINABLE WORLD OF MEANING

An epiphany is any experience that awakens the individual to an enriched sense of meaning. The epiphany breaks us out of the flow of the everyday, and especially out of indifference, and propels us toward a sense of fullness. Epiphanies arise out of the everyday flow of experience as intensifications of meaning that either invite entry to a world of greater significance or simply return us to the everyday flow of experience. Epiphanies vary as to their existen- tial force. For instance, there are epiphanies that only momentarily pull us out of the flow of our everyday concerns as when, for instance, in the midst of one's busy schedule, an old friend that one has not seen in a long time briefly crosses one's path, and a few warm words of care are shared, or when, rushing to catch the trans- port home from work, one is con- fronted by a woman holding an infant and begging and, touched with compassion, gives her money. These encounters rupture our everyday flow of experience, but they do not

necessarily transform us or invite us to a deeper confrontation.

Epiphanies of great force often propel individuals into confrontations with self and world that create trans- formations of importance. For instance, a client told me about the death of his best friend from a drug overdose. That loss so moved him that he committed to changing his own self-destructive behavior. In this case, the epiphany invited a complete reassessment of his life, awakening him to new possibilities in the face of his friend's death and his own mean- derings in life.

As these examples indicate, there is a relationship between the flow of everyday experience and the sponta- neous arising of epiphanies. In the flow of everyday life, one is, for the most part, given over to one's concern in a functional manner. One is busy with projects and seeks to get them done. This engagement with the things of the world is primarily utili- tarian; one utilizes the objects at hand purposefully within the context of accomplishing a task. For exam- ple, one is awakened by the alarm clock, gets dressed, and fixes break- fast in a habitual routine. One simply does what one has, for the most part, always done. A glance at the clock indicates that one is late for school or work, and one anxiously rushes out the door. At school or work, the pat- tern of the everyday flow continues, as it did at home. Tasks need to be completed and the business of life, managed.

Into the routine of the everyday flow, the epiphany emerges as a kind of break. The flow of the everyday

38 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

yields to being captivated, momen- tarily, by that which has irrupted into the flow. In the onset of the epiphany, one is struck by something beautiful or captured by an idea or horrified and saddened by the beggar or the death of a friend or outraged by an injustice inflicted.

One is called out of the everyday flow of experience by the urgency of the epiphany, and the focus of one's awareness transforms from the rou- tinized project orientation basic to the everyday flow to an immediate encounter that presses forward. The

epiphany reveals itself as an intensi- fication of experience in which awareness is recalled from its habit- ual flow and given a new center that is immediately encountered. In the epiphany, the here and now presents as a power not experienced in the flow of the everyday. Thus there is a fullness and demand given in the

epiphany that is missing in the flow of everyday experiences.

An example may clarify this point. In my work as a college professor, I am expected to help students fill out their schedules each semester. Often students come in confused about which courses to take, which elec- tives fulfill which requirements, and what they might or might not be interested in taking. It is a necessary and often tedious process that requires phoning the registrar to find out if certain sections are open or pleading with colleagues to allow students into closed sections. During the last registration period at my col- lege, a student came in to sign up for her courses. Her schedule was espe- cially difficult to complete because, due to work and other obligations,

she had only limited time that she could be on campus and, being a sen- ior, she had specific requirements to fulfill that semester in order to graduate. This involved sending her to financial aid and the registrar and calling the dean to see if certain requirements could be waived due to her unusual circumstances. In essence, a long, drawn-out process ensued that caused both of us unwanted frustration. At our final meeting, I looked over at her and saw a deep sadness. When I asked her what the matter was, she began to weep quietly and described the diffi- culties that she was having with a drunken husband, lack of money, and problems with her children. School had always provided her with a haven away from the desperation of her everyday life, but now it, too, seemed to be just another weight to add to her difficulties. She talked about fearing that she might not be able to graduate on time and how this would affect her future.

I listened in stunned silence. The low-level resentment that I had felt toward her for not being able to fill out her own schedule evaporated in the face of the concrete reality of her despair at her situation and the pos- sibility of the death of her dream-to finish college and support her chil- dren. Being with her at that moment was an epiphany for me because it wrenched me out of the mere func- tionality of my role as adviser and brought me face-to-face with her in her suffering, her nobility, and her endangered hope. I do not remember what I said to her. I know that I was supportive and assured her that everything would be done to get her

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS 39

the schedule that she needed and, more important, that I needed her to stay in the struggle and make a go of it in this arduous time.

Essentially, the epiphany sponta- neously and urgently interrupts the flow of our everyday task orientation. The experience demands that we turn toward an encounter in the immediacy of the here and now. The epiphany emerges from within the doing of our everyday flow into a highlighted being-with in which our presence to the object of our concern is consuming. Thus the epiphany is an entry into a world of enriched significance.

As violence and the examples pre- viously given indicate, the epiphany breaks us out of the everyday flow and opens new worlds of possibility. As noted earlier, most epiphanies are simply highlighted moments that emerge from our everyday concern and from which we return fairly soon to the everyday world of our tasks. For example, in the midst of a busy day, one might be momentarily struck by the loveliness of the trees in snow or the songs of the birds in early spring. One returns to the world of everyday concern refreshed by such moments of beauty. Epipha- nies, then, are moments of awaken- ing to that which was not themati- cally present within the flow of our everyday concern.

As awakening, the epiphany often speaks to that which is covered over in our everyday concerns. If, in our everyday life, there is a healthy interaction with a world in which a sense of significance stands forth, then the epiphanies serve to high-

light the value of our endeavors. On the other hand, if, in our everyday life, there is a burdensome quality such that our world is discovered to be a constant struggle in which little sustenance is found, then the epipha- nies urge change. For instance, the moment of despair over one's situa- tion is an epiphany demanding the transformation of the present world of one's endeavors into more vital engagement.

Epiphanies, as momentary irrup- tions within the flow of the everyday, hold open the possibility of an encounter with a world of signifi- cance not thematically given in our everyday concerns. A world of signifi- cance is a process of being that opens as an invitation and response to the fundamental yearning for meaning. As such, a world of significance calls us to engage fully in the exploration of some domain of meaning. This world, then, goes beyond the opening offered by the epiphany through inviting a sustained engagement, over time, with that which calls upon us. In its positive dimensions, a world of significance invites us into a creative use of our powers of imagi- nation, insight, and feeling in which our engagement with the world can lead to a sense of vitality, aliveness, and even enchantment with that with which we are concerned.

As a child of 6 in Trinidad in the West Indies, I would listen to the BBC on my grandparents' old radio. They lived in an oil rigger's camp on the edge of a jungle. The radio was their only entertainment. My grand- mother loved classical music, so we would listen late at night to certain

40 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

music programs. There was one pro- gram that I especially enjoyed because its introduction was a beau- tiful and haunting piece. I would sit there rapt, transported by this loveli- ness. I never knew what the piece was and I never thought to ask. But I remember sitting there in the dark next to the radio, on the floor, the lights dim in the house, the jungle's intense perfume and the sounds of its many creatures coalescing with the beauty of that unknown and riveting music.

Years later, as a college under- graduate, during my final semester I whimsically signed up for a survey course in music. The professor was passionate about his work. He taught us to read music, and he often played pieces for us before lecturing. Sometime in mid-semester, I was transported back to my childhood by a piece he introduced as Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante d6funte." Awakened by the reencounter with this work, a world of fascination opened that remains with me to this day. For me, the world of music became an enduring encounter with the mystery of beauty and memory.

Epiphanies open us to the call of worlds of significance. Such worlds are invitations to vital engagements that speak deeply to our fundamen- tal yearning for meaning. Violence, as a failed epiphany, is one reaction to the alienation that many students experience, a reaction that fails pre- cisely because it does not illuminate a world of significance. I now turn to a brief consideration of the transfor- mation that can be made from vio- lence to a sustainable world of significance.

FROM ALIENATION TO EDUCATION

Violence as an act of despair, pow- erlessness, and hopelessness remains an unfulfilled call for mean- ing. As seen earlier, violence is a failed epiphany because, although violence momentarily breaks out of the broken world of alienation, it does not provide a breakthrough to a world of sustainable significance. Part of the reason for violence in schools is that much of the educa- tional system has lost touch with the ability to inspire students to engage in the process that creates worlds of sustainable significance. The love of learning has been replaced by the obligation to learn. But it is unfair to burden the educational system alone with the problem of the alienation of our young. Poverty, neglect, distrac- tion, and boredom are central to the lives of many in our society.

Concretely, violent acts have to be stopped in the schools. But this is only the beginning of an extensive process of social recovery. Given that many students are not prepared to learn because of structurally induced dysfunctional backgrounds (see Kramer, this volume), time and resources will have to be spent to bring them into the learning situa- tion. Once that is accomplished, we can begin education as the process of unveiling worlds of sustainable meaning in which a sense of discov- ery, vitality, and engagement exists.

Real education demands that we move from merely preparing stu- dents for jobs by giving them specific skills, necessary though this is, to an intrinsic sense of the development of vital interests. The fundamental

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS 41

yearning for meaning feasts on the delights of knowledge once the worlds of significance basic to educa- tion have been opened by gifted and committed teachers. This is not an easy task. But if we are to help our students overcome violence, we must find paths for them to satisfy the urge for significance.

Central to this educational process is the cultivation of the epiphanies and the invitation to enter sustainable worlds of signifi- cance. As such, students need to be introduced to this possibility and its relationship with the flow of every- day life. We need to teach our young that hope and disappointment are part of the process of awakening and involvement. If we do this, violence will be overcome, for students will

discover the living processes in which the flow of the everyday and enchantment with the world are brought into harmony.

References

Baudrillard, Jean. 1983a. Fatal Strate- gies. Paris: Bernard Grasset.

1983b. Simulacra and Simula- tions. New York: Semiotext.

Durkheim, Emile. [1897] 1951. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

Henry, Stuart. 1991. The Postmodern Perspective in Criminology. In New Directions in Critical Criminology, ed. Brian MacLean and Dragan Milova- novic. Vancouver: Collective Press.

Poster, Mark, ed. 1988. Jean Baudril- lard: Selected Writings. Oxford: Polity Press.