COMMENTARY: School violence akin to domestic violence

c. 1998 Religion News Service (The Rev. Marie M. Fortune is ordained in the United Church of Christ and directs the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seattle.) UNDATED _ Imagine this: A man goes to his ex-girlfriend’s workplace, activates the fire alarm, and, as the workers file out of the […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

(The Rev. Marie M. Fortune is ordained in the United Church of Christ and directs the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seattle.)

UNDATED _ Imagine this: A man goes to his ex-girlfriend’s workplace, activates the fire alarm, and, as the workers file out of the building, opens fire on only the women, killing five and wounding eleven others, including his ex-girlfriend.


It is not hard to conjure this image, because we learn about this kind of workplace violence regularly in the media.

Furthermore, it actually happened, only the”workplace”was a middle school, the shooter was just 13, and the victims young teen-aged classmates of the boy. It was Jonesboro, Ark.

Most of the media coverage and commentary following the Jonesboro tragedy focused on”school violence,”and has led to suggestions as”safe-school planning,”peer mediation for students, and increased skills in conflict resolution.

Some have even suggested arming teachers. A few have noted the ease with which the shooter and his young accomplice gained access to high-powered guns, and some have commented on their exposure to guns at an early age.

But virtually no one is talking about an obvious, critical factor: The Jonesboro shooting _ and several other recent school shootings _ was about domestic violence.

The shooter’s classmates said he had recently”broken up”with his girlfriend and had warned classmates he would seek revenge.”He told me yesterday,”said one,”that all the people who broke up with him, you know, he’s going to come to school tomorrow and shoot them. I thought he was just kidding around.” It is a classic scenario known so well to battered women: They are most likely to be injured or killed when they leave their abuser because he refuses to relinquish control over her.

The reports on the Jonesboro killings were also an eerie reminder of the December 1989 massacre in Montreal, when a student walked into the Engineering School, separated the students by gender, and gunned down only the women.”A bunch of feminists,”he called them.


This is what gender-specific violence looks like.

Misogyny _ the hatred of women _ is planted early in the process of male socialization in our culture. Some men, fortunately, manage to avoid infection. These are the ones who resist the dominant messages and who learn to respect women. But the consistency of the socialization process means too many men learn early to hate what is female and to seek to control females at all cost.

So, if our communities really want to prevent more of these school tragedies, they must also address attitudes toward women and girls, which are often manifested in teen-dating violence.

In her book”Love and Danger,”Barry Levy reports that some 28 percent of students surveyed have experienced violence in a dating relationship. More and more teens and college students are finding themselves being abused by a partner.

I am still haunted by the memory of a young, 14-year-old woman who was in attendance as I spoke to a church youth group. At the end of my presentation, she said,”Well, I don’t think my boyfriend really likes me. He hasn’t hit me yet.”Did she learn that hitting equals love in her church youth group?

What, if anything, are teen-agers in Jonesboro or any of our communities learning about dating violence in church and synagogue youth groups? Are they able to discuss their experiences and find support? Are those who behave in controling and abusive ways toward a girlfriend or boyfriend challenged in their faith communities?

Schools, churches, synagogues, athletic teams, and boys and girls organizations are the places where the behaviors of potential abusers can be confronted.


They are the places where victims and potential victims can find support and information. They are the places where adults can pay attention to threats of violence and take them seriously. They are also the places where boys and girls can learn to respect each other even as they try to navigate the rough waters of adolescence and dating relationships.

We need not see another Jonesboro. But we surely will unless we are willing to face the gender specificity of male violence toward women _ even at very young ages. There is no excuse for domestic violence _ not in homes, in schools or anywhere else.

DEA END FORTUNE

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