The 57 Bus – Great Description of Aggression

In honor of Banned Book Week, I though I’d mention a great line from the book “The 57 Bus” by Dashka Slater, a wonderful nonfiction work about two high school students, one thoughtless and impulsive act, and the consequences that followed for them both. The story of the students is fascinating, and Ms. Slater brings just a sprinkling of research into the narrative. One line from the book beautifully and concisely describes the driver of aggression that leads to bullying: “…an obsession with conformity, group identity, and peer approval combined with an appetite for risk and sensation…” Researchers in the bullying prevention field would do well to ponder those words, particularly those who believe that bullying involves intent to harm.