In the wake of the Columbine High School murders and several other copycat shootings, school officials have become very nervous when students suddenly start acting out. In the mid-'90s, following an outbreak of childish pranks and rowdy behavior at Mundelein High School in Illinois, administrators sought to quell youthful anarchy with stern disciplinary policies. Yet repeated crackdowns failed to curb the kids' destructive behavior, which began to fray the institution and community. Matera (Are You Lonesome Tonight?), a former Miami News
education reporter, follows a group of ambitious students who, with the help of a sympathetic French teacher, Karen Royer, rallied their classmates to return the school to normalcy. Building on a model developed at neighboring Deerfield High, which had overcome a similar behavioral crisis, Royer and the students eventually created a curriculum stressing moral character and civic values that took hold among the younger students. Officials then reversed their initial policies, deciding to be more tolerant of minor misbehavior and more flexible in their response to situations requiring disciplinary action. The changes in school spirit, behavior and atmosphere shocked everyone involved, and have triggered a nationwide call for character education classes. While Matera does not present this approach as foolproof or flawless, he does make a strong case for its utility beyond Mundelein and Deerfield, interviewing both supporters and critics. For those interested in education and in the behavioral problems plaguing our schools, this perceptive book offers some approaches that are at once innovative and old-fashioned. (July)
Forecast:
Are You Lonesome Tonight? was a
New York Times bestseller. Given the national obsession with school discipline and safety, this book seems poised for comparable success.
