This book asks fundamental questions about the nature and purposes of formal education. There are three main ways of looking at the relationship between formal education, individuals, and society: that education improves society; that education reproduces society exactly as it is; and that education makes society worse and harms individuals.

While much academic writing and research stresses the first two functions, the third is largely played down or ignored. In this unique, thought-provoking book, Clive Harber argues that while schooling can play a positive role, violence towards children originating in the schools system itself is common, systematic, and widespread and that schools play a significant role in encouraging violence in wider society. Topics covered include physical punishment, learning to hate others, sexual abuse, stress and anxiety, and the militarization of school.