The Bully Society

“Taking the horrific rampage school shootings as a starting point, Jessie Klein resists pop-psychology profiling, and instead lets the events ramify outwards, to a searing indictment of the cultures of cruelty, entitlement and indifference in which those acts take place.” -Michael Kimmel,author of Guyland”Exceptionally readable, abundant examples, and full of salient suggestions for social change; no future discussion of this topic can afford to ignore The Bully Society.“-James W. Messerschmidt, author of Hegemonic Masculinities and Camouflaged Politics”The author writes with clarity and compassion… she offers an opportunity for us to examine, discuss and consider the world we have created for our children.” -Kirkus Reviews,“The Bully Society is riveting and powerful - Jessie Klein uncovers the roots of depression, school shootings, and other despair in American schools and offers brilliant and doable solutions. This amazing and hopeful book is a clarion call to all concerned about children; parents, professionals, anyone working with youth should read it. Jessie Klein led the team that helped launch me from being homeless to Harvard University; and she got everyone from my class (from an at-risk public high school) into a 4-year college - most with full scholarships. Surely her book can spearhead a movement for peaceful schools in America and her successes can be replicated. The Bully Society is poignant and timely at a moment when everyone should be listening. Frankly, we can’t afford not to. The stories Klein tells are heartbreaking. She knows what it takes to create compassionate communities where students thrive - and what must be done to dismantle the more common school bully cultures. A must read for everyone who wants to see American students move from a sea of fear, anxiety, and rage to flourish academically, socially, and psychologically. The Bully Society points the way for students (and schools) to develop their full potential.”-Liz Murray,author of Breaking Night: A Memoir of My Journey from Homeless to Harvard”This powerful, necessary book shows how the epidemic cruelty of young people generates many of the social problems that are undermining American society. In pondering what it means to be a bully and to be the victim of a bully, Jessie Klein shows why our schools are failing us, explains crimes long viewed as inexplicable, and offers a stunning indictment of laissez-faire attitudes toward children. Her book illuminates a very dark problem, and proposes solutions that, if we are brave enough to adopt them, might be transformative not only in the lives of suffering individuals, but also in the health of the nation. I wish everyone around me had had this book to read when I was bullied as a child.“-Andrew Solomon,author of The Noonday Demon

Jessie Klein is Assistant Professor of Sociology/Criminal Justice at Adelphi University. Over the last two decades, she also led and administered high school guidance programs. She served as a supervisor, school social worker, college adviser, social studies teacher, substance abuse prevention counselor and conflict resolution coordinator. Her writing appears in scholarly journals as well as popular media. She is available for speaking events; and offers consultations for schools interested in building compassionate communities leading to more peaceful, effective and productive education environments.