Terrorism in the Schoolyard: The Dynamics of School Violence

As an educator, I have always been concerned about the numerous instances of children bullying others. The problem with addressing this issue is that bullying often occurs in a subculture to which few adults are often privy. This may account for the reason that educators, child advocates, psychologists, and law enforcement agencies have been rather inept in remedying the problem of school bullying. In order to deal with this problem, one must understand the dynamics of the culture that gives birth to it. Some blame the parents and others the school system, but little attention is given to factors pertaining to the culture of childhood.

This author’s humble attempt to explain some of those dynamics begins with a reference to William Golding’s "Lord of the Flies". The story chronicles the tale of a group of boys, stranded on an island that eventually adopt a life of savagery. By the end of the story two of the boys are killed and the protagonist (Ralph) is running for his life from the rest of the rest of the boys prior to their being rescued. Golding’s remark regarding the Ralph’s tears at the end of the story is provocative. He says that Ralph weeps for the loss of innocence and for the human sickness to which he could not give utterance but understood all too well. It seems that Ralph’s naïve efforts, born of innocence, were rewarded by his becoming a pariah, thereby rendering innocence itself as an unwelcome entity within the world the children created.

Perhaps one of the reasons that efforts geared towards curbing school violence have been rather ineffective is that the dynamics that give birth to it, so eloquently depicted in Golding’s novel, are as profound and complex as nature itself. The world in which children exist provides fertile ground for a scenario reminiscent of the "Lord of the Flies". It seems that the roles of predator and prey exist within their world just as they exist in ours. The tendency for one child to prey upon another could very well be part of his/her innate disposition and when left unchecked by adult interference, it continues to develop and manifest itself unabated. Children that are in the role of prey may not welcome adult interference, particularly if it leads to being further ostracized by their peers. They may regard it as an unwelcome intrusion into the world in which they exist with other children. Those that are rescued by adults may decry their reprieve from the predator as temporary at best because they are all too aware of the static cultural dynamic that enabled their victimization in the first place. There are also those who opt to resolve the problem using whatever means they have at their disposal, which may entail either injuring or killing the aggressor, thereby maintaining the integrity of the culture and keeping it free from adult interference. Such are the "lord of the flies" dynamics that permeate and characterize the culture of childhood.

While some may regard such a conceptualization as pessimistic and cynical, many will hopefully acknowledge that this viewpoint adds to their understanding of youth culture. Blaming influences outside the culture does little to resolve the issue of school bullying, but an increased understanding of the underlying dynamics just might. Bullying has always been there in the past, but a more insightful approach towards addressing the problem may serve to ensure that it will not be there in the future. It is this educator’s hope that such an approach will be implemented to assuage any future concerns regarding terrorism in the schoolyard.

School Bully Online
A website page that depicts the experience of being bullied from a child's point of view. It is part of a site that contains resources for enabling people to cope with being bullied.