By Dani Dennenberg, Published in the April 2001 issue of Veg News

In the last issue, I pondered a student’s question and discovered that the nature of it was the very essence of humane education. Last Monday at Santana High, a school located 20 minutes away from my home, a shooting took place leaving two young people dead and 13 injured. I found myself asking similar questions, "Why would anyone do such a thing? How can such violence continue? Can an individual feel so angry at the world that they are driven to make others suffer?"

My immediate thought was about the rash of school shootings over the last few years: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Luke Woodham and Kip Kinkel, and now Andrew Williams. My heart sank with despair as I wondered how long we would hear about such tragedies. As the barrage of local media unfolded, I realized how much it reflected societal tendency to look at these incidents from an intervention perspective rather than a preventative perspective. Tellingly, the massive majority of television coverage focused on 911 calls, detailed recaps of the shootings, and interviews with students and others who knew Andrew. Only when I conducted research on the Internet did I discover a list of warning signs for individuals who act out violently including: detachment, alienation, obsessions with death and destruction, and cruelty to animals.

Shortly after the incident, it became public knowledge that other students ostracized Andrew on a consistent basis. Yet, most of the people who interacted with him acknowledged the teasing, but lacked a true comprehension for how it truly affected him. In an ideal world, people would place themselves in the shoes of others and act in ways that they would like to be treated. Sadly, popularity, physical appearance and wealth will continue to play a role in creating social status among students. Until the day arrives when no student feels threatened, humane education will serve a crucial role in acting as a form of conflict resolution.

Humane education has been a perilously neglected subject in schools across the U.S. In understanding our role as humane educators, it may be helpful to examine why school grounds become battlefields in the first place. Apart from parents and other peer influences, television and school systems are responsible for instilling a particular set of values that often encourage students to think that greed, violence, consumerism, exploitation and power over others is cool, valuable and fulfilling.

The good news is that times are changing. The California Teachers Association (CTA) recently held a groundbreaking conference, "Stopping the Fear: Creating Violence Free Public Schools and Communities." It demonstrated the important role of HE in addressing the cycle of violence as it affects humans and nonhuman animals. Also, the California Education Code states "Each teacher shall endeavor to impress upon the minds of the pupils the principles of morality, truth, justice… including the promotion of harmonious relations, kindness toward domestic pets and the humane treatment of living creatures."