This book looks at the lives of young people and the violence that is a daily part of their world in an urban high school. "Being Down" studies school violence comprehensively--linking school ethnography, policy analysis, and urban studies and encompassing city politics, racism, policing, and systemic and economic injustices in its all-too-real portrait of youth violence in American society.

Rich with dialogue, this timely volume considers school violence in its many forms, including gun and weapon usage, assault and harassment, bullying, fighting, suicide, and hate crimes. In addition to youth violence, the book examines federal policies and court cases that have shaped judicial and punitive responses to violence. Chapters cover:

• Zero tolerance policy
• School discipline
• Urban policing
• Community and school relations
• Segregation and school inequities
• Alternative schools
• Boot Camps