Creative Crisis: ENGLISH TEACHER TESTIMONY OF THE VIOLENT WRITINGS OF HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH

Violent writing is a real, yet rarely understood phenomenon in the secondary and post-secondary classroom. The 2007 Virginia Tech shooting tragedy sensationalized violent writing as a marker of disturbed and violent persons. However, violent writing comes in multiple forms and is composed for multiple reasons. As secondary schools wrestle with issues of school safety, they may be neglecting the front line role of English teachers confronted with violent texts, as well as the implications for student safety outside of school. This study defines and presents a typology for violent writing and reports on the prevalence of such writings among secondary English classrooms in a southern US state. The study uses quantitative and qualitative data to explore the construct. Research suggests that teachers should expect to receive samples of violent writing, particularly from victimized students. The disturbing number of domestic abuse and self-inflicted violence texts has implications for teacher response.