Scapegoating for Columbine: Collateral Damage in the War on School Violence

Since the 1999 Columbine tragedy, when two boys who were bullied committed the worst school shooting in U.S. history, numerous schools have implemented anti-bullying programs with uneven success. Others have used zero-tolerance discipline, resulting in children being suspended, expelled, and arrested for increasingly ridiculous reasons.

The Benson family of Colorado thinks it’s time for a return to common-sense discipline. Author Louise Benson describes the family’s ordeal with their son’s persecution by Christian bullies in a Boulder County public charter school. She recounts the expulsion and bizarre felony charges pursued by the school and the police when the boy confided to a counselor thoughts of killing himself and the bullies. A year later, another persecuted student attempted suicide, and others came forward about religious and racial intolorance at the charter school.

How could this happen in liberal Boulder? The answer, revealed in Dr. Benson’s fight for reform, is a mix of Colorado’s red/blue politics and bureaucratic defensiveness. She also shows that many anti-bullying programs are outdated, and warns that charter schools may contribute to resegregation and intolerance. A national reappraisal of zero tolerance, which is supported by extensive research, is the goal of Scapegoating for Columbine: Collateral Damage in the War on School Violence.