School Violence: Answers from the Inside

"12:15--The Caf." In the cafeteria, a white student gets up in a black student's face for eyeballing him and a bit of pushing and shoving ensues until the fight is broken up by a security guard. Over a mediation table, the pair air their differences and sign an agreement to suspend hostilities. Filmed at a high school, the kind of "violence" addressed in this episode of the PBS-aired award-winning In the Mix is probably closer to the real problems most kids deal with at school, but viewers expecting insights into the rash of school shootings over the past couple of years will be sorely disappointed. While previous entries in the In the Mix series ranged far and wide over a given topic--delivering facts and figures and featuring guest celebrities--School Violence: Answers from the Inside is a subdued, insular effort. Following a brief intro by young host, Kellie Martin, the program whisks off to a high school, interviews the assistant principal, a social worker, and a group of kids and spotlights the aforementioned fight. The school's approach to the issues of security--more guards walking the halls, a focus group, a strong mediation program--though touted as exceptional, struck me as pretty straightforward, and I found the interviewees' assertion that the school doesn't have cliques extremely hard to believe. The best scenes feature kids opening up about their feelings of being excluded or bullied, but--in all fairness--these facets of high school life have been with us since time immemorial. They neither explain nor suggest a solution to the type of school violence that has captured the nation's headlines of late. Optional. Aud: H, P. (R. Pitman)