Violence Overload

I am giving up violence.

Or at least attempting to severely curtail my personal exposure to anything and everything violent, which obviously must include books.  On my original* "Inspired..." blog  I am writing about this desire to eliminate violence in my life, and will probably have some duplicate posts here when relevant to students, teaching, and Education.

I know the world is violent.  Some students' lives are violent on a daily basis.  Pop culture is certainly violent, sometimes overwhelmingly so, which is why I am trying to recognize ways I can avoid as much violence as I can and find alternatives for my children and students, if at all possible.  So far, the violence I have encountered in the classroom has been confined to the realms of history (wars, slavery, and assassinations) and nature (volcanoes, tornadoes, and the food chain).**  Could the elementary school culture be the least violent-saturated element of our American culture?

Or have I just not seen it yet, is violence too prevalent in Education?  Do we teach about the battle's victors, and not the peace-makers?  Is everything Twilight and Goosebumps and wizards fighting?

As always, I welcome comments and suggestions.




*Violence is hard to get away from -- I was going to say "I have hijacked my other blog..."
**Not including student violence: a few fights, discussions of video games, and the 1st grader's report on his gun-shaped birthday cake.