Salon interviews Aaron Kupchik, whose book “Homeroom Security: School Discipline in an Age of Fear” is described as “an attempt to explain that paradox and suggest an alternative to this battle-zone mentality.” The book examines four public high schools. Kupchik says, “We’re teaching kids what it means to be a citizen in our country. And what I fear we’re doing is teaching them that what it means to be an American is that you accept authority without question and that you have absolutely no rights to question punishment. It’s very Big Brother-ish in a way. Kids are being taught that you should expect to be drug tested if you want to participate in an organization, that walking past a police officer every day and being constantly under the gaze of a security camera is normal.”
He continues, “My concern is that these children are going to grow up and be less critical and thoughtful of these sorts of mechanisms. And so the types of political discussions we have now, like for example, whether or not wiretapping is OK, these might not happen in 10 years.”