Words can create a culture and an environment that appear to condone prejudice and violence. But we can begin to change the culture in which the use of degrading language and violence appears acceptable to our students. Adults must intervene when degrading language is spoken. Students hope adults will say something. The students who are most devastated by degrading language are those who believe a teacher heard but did not intervene.
Intervention is necessary, even when there is no visible target of the slurs.
By breaking the pattern of escalation from language to threats and, finally, violence, it is possible to significantly reduce the chance that students will be victims of serious violence. Drawing on his experience, the author found that if hurtful language can be interrupted before it escalates, the need for police and prosecutorial intervention can be greatly reduced. Such interventions will have an extraordinary impact on those students who have been threatened. After the local paper reported on the incidents, Wessler received a letter addressed to Scott from a student civil rights group at another high school in the area. Since these students didn't know Scott's name, they asked Wessler to forward their letter to the student who had suffered so much abuse.