Table of Contents

Introduction.

Physical Maltreatment in the Classroom.

Psychological Maltreatment in the Classroom.

Attacks on Children's Sense of Justice and Democracy.

Drugs, Dogs, and Discipline: Double Messages in theSchoolhouse.

Mortality, Sex, and Censorship.

Toxic Punishments, Laws, and Litigation.

Taking A Stand: What to Do If Your Child Is Maltreated inSchool.

Taking Action: Understanding the Playing Field and How to Make itEven.

How Can Schools Be Democratic and Stop Maltreatment?

About the Author

IRWIN A. HYMAN, Ed.D., is a professor of school psychology and the director of the National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment and Alternatives, Temple University. A distinguished researcher and passionate academic, clinical, and legal advocate for an And to the institutional mistreatment of children, he is the author of numerous books and articles including The Case Against Spanking. PAMELA A. SNOOK R.N., M.S.N., coauthor of the My Worst School Experience Scales, is a psychiatric nurse and clinical specialist who has worked with a wide variety of victimized children. She is a doctoral student in school psychology at Temple University.

Reviews

"This book makes a strong argument against school abuses and offersclear and proven strategies for change. It will appeal to parentswho suspect that their children have been maltreated by educatorsand for advocates who desire a blueprint for social change." (JamesGarbarino, codirector, Family Life Development Center, CornellUniversity; author, What Children Can Tell Us)

"Dangerous Schools is a welcome antidote to the politics of "zerotolerance" that grip so many schools today. By combining passionateadvocacy with anecdotal and scientific observations, the authorsshow how authoritarian practices like strip searches, undercoveroperations, and corporal punishment can extinguish our children'ssense of security, freedom, and justice. A must read for all thosewho care about what is going on in our schools today." (LorenSiegel, director of public education, American Civil LibertiesUnion)

"A passionate and relatively practical contribution for parents andeducators who are concerned about disciplinary abuses of studentsin some public schools." (Perry A. Zirkel, Iacocca professor ofeducation, Lehigh University)