Books, Boredom, and Behind Bars: An Explanation of Apathy and Hostility in Our Schools
Keywords:
boredom, apathy, student hostility, school socialization, school resistance, compulsory schoolingAbstract
Schooling is socialization that standardizes, and often eliminates, emotions to fit the bureaucratic routine of corporate workplaces. Student “deviants” who resist this standardization by making public their boredom with school must face the attempts of “authorities” to coerce them into “adjusting” to a school reality shaped and maintained in the socio-economic image of the larger culture. It is argued that (1) the actions of these deviants should be taken seriously as the most visible tip of a school iceberg filled with apathy and hostility, and (2) the first step in changing this situation is to remake schools into non-compulsory and more community-grounded institutions.
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