The Power of Education: Responses to Youth Violence

The Power of Education: Responses to Youth Violence in The Outsiders vs. All American Boys

Delaney Sullivan, University of Florida

The Outsiders (1967) demonstrates a classic example of youth violence perpetrated by a class struggle between the groups known as the Greasers, young men of a lower social standing, and the Socs who represent those with money and power in society. Just as this novel is emblematic of 1960s society, All American Boys (2015) is intended to reflect current social movements toward gains in racial equality. Within this novel, Rashad is a young black high schooler who is accused of stealing in a convenience store causing the white police officer in the store to arrest Rashad without allowing him to explain himself. Rashad is compliant, but nonetheless is beaten by the police officer to the point of internal bleeding and a week stent in the hospital. Quinn, a white high schooler who sees the whole incident, is like a son to the police officer. Rashad and Quinn’s high school fractures into groups as they take sides and perpetrate the already tense racial divides, some advocating for social change while others claim that the problems do not exist. The Outsiders establishes the method of inaction concerning the class violence on the part of the education system and demonstrates how education is used as a universal salve for the plight of the lower class. This analysis contrasts the activism against police brutality in All American Boys and what the teachers do to either spur or damper the clamoring of students. The systems of power represented through the education systems portrayed in both of these novels display their effects onto the adolescents’ motivations and decisions. In my paper, first I will discuss the idea of power, as defined by Roberta Trites, within the scope of adolescent literature. Then I will compare and contrast the approaches to violence in the two novels and the effects that these two methods have on the young adult characters such as Quinn and Ponyboy. Finally, I will analyze the portrayals of the teachers in respect to the novels’ intent to be taught in schools.

Roberta Trites defines power as “a force that operates within the subject and upon the subject in adolescent literature; teenagers are repressed as well as liberated by their own power and by the power of the social forces” (7). This struggle between inner power and external power is what drives the conflict in both novels, like when Ponyboy struggles to combat the physical power that the Socs have over him with the power he possesses to change his circumstances. Rather than choosing a violent display of power, like Johnny does when he kills Bob, he uses the power of his pen to ease his inner conflicts. If the statement, “YA novels rely on adolescent protagonists who strive to understand their own power by struggling with the various institutions in their lives” applies, then the education system is the prime institution that the teenagers in these two YA novels are struggling within and against (Trites 8). The students of Springfield Central High School in All American Boys simultaneously fight against the education system for a voice after Rashad is beaten and amongst their own conscience, whether to remain loyal to family or to their morality. When these adolescents express their own power, they are liberated by the effects it has on their community and their sense of right and wrong. Quinn finally feels inner peace once he chooses to march for Rashad rather than to stand with Paul simply based on familial loyalty. In a small way, Ponyboy finds calm when he writes his English assignment as a way to express his gripes over the societal system that enabled the deaths of Dally and Johnny. The systems of power at play within the schools enable the inner and external power within the young adults.

The class violence in The Outsiders is not concentrated within the confines of the high school yet the educational entity still provides a springboard for violence. In the novel, Johnny is beat by several members of the Socs, including Bob, resulting in significant injuries. Due to his past with Bob, Johnny feels a gut reaction once he is cornered again by the Socs and feels justified to kill Bob (Hinton 56). This crime does not take place on or near the high school. None of the deaths take place at the high school. Johnny is injured while fleeing with Ponyboy and dies in the hospital. Bob is killed in the park. Dally is killed by the police. In fact, almost the entirety of the book is enacted outside of that realm, yet its impact is still felt and observed at school. Neither of these groups claim the school as their territory because it is a mutual place where both congregate because both are entitled to be there.

The violence exhibited by the unquestioned police is mirrored in the education system. In The Outsiders, “Dally raised the gun, and I thought: You blasted fool. They don’t know you’re only bluffing. And even as the policemen’s gun spit fire into the night I knew that was what Dally wanted” (Hinton 154). Dally’s death is described as merciful, a choice that Dally made to die rather than a choice the officers made to shoot him. The fault is not placed on the police (after all Dally did have a weapon on him) and in fact the police officers are not mentioned again, and the repercussions are non-existent. Dally’s death is interesting in reference to All American Boys, because although both books represent police violence in some capacity, The Outsiders does so without laying any blame on the officers who shoot and kill. The police officers represent an unquestioned authority. The education system is represented similarly. No violence or rumbles occur on school property because the education system represents too much of an authority to be challenged. High school is the connecting force between these social groups; it is where they all know each other despite participating in different social circles with a wealth gap between them. The high school is shared space where they acknowledge the others’ existence as well as the constant group tension. Within the world of the novel, the education system also provides an easy solution for this violence in that is provides a “suitable” alternative with less violence than staging rumbles between gangs with no real change.

Education is wielded as a system of power in The Outsiders as it offers a safe and non-violent solution to social class tension. Ponyboy decides to throw himself into writing his English assignment because the social injustice, violence, and death he is faced with daily, “was too vast a problem to be just a personal thing. There should be some help, someone should tell them before it was too late. Someone should tell their side of the story, and maybe people would understand then and wouldn’t be so quick to judge a boy” (Hinton 179). According to Eric Tribunella, the school in The Outsiders, “Offers a safe and undisruptive palliative for class inequality” (Tribunella 88). The solution offered to Ponyboy’s class struggle and victimization by the Soc is to simply get an education, but there is no active plan to solve the issues like abuse and poverty. The novel also advocates for education as a coping device after a trauma, such as Johnny and Dally dying. Tribunella condescendingly observes, “Ponyboy’s response to his traumatic experiences, which are symptomatic of problems of social class and class inequality, is to do his homework” (Tribunella 97). Ponyboy witnesses a murder, two of his friends die, and is almost taken away from his family yet his instinct is to flock to an intellectual and constructive solution. This analysis is telling of The Outsiders’ stance on education. Within the narrative, his story is seen by his teacher; there is no widespread advocacy for social change or campaign against police brutality like in All American Boys. Ponyboy writes this novel as a method of self-expression and therapy after the death of his friends. This coping mechanism is framed within the educational system. It is assigned to him in that context and it remains in that context. Rather than changing the status-quo that instinctively places him lower than the Socs, writing about it will only make him feel better. The only thing that changes is his grade, not his community or social class.

In contrast, All American Boys represents the positive societal change as an effect of enacting an activist perspective, as well as the effects of unresponsive behavior on the motivations of teenagers. Quinn’s proclivity to ignore his role as a witness to Rashad’s assault is reinforced by the instruction of some of his teachers. Those that enact a perspective of passivism in All American Boys utilize the power of education to damper change and are therefore met with further tension. Elisabeth Rose Gruner argues, “Education has always done both things: integration and transformation” (Gruner 72). Assuming this is the goal of a liberal education, the actions of a portion of the teachers and other educators in All American Boys directly contradict this statement. The first of which is Ms. Webber, who upon confrontation with students discussing Rashad’s beating is flustered, afraid to speak, and simply claims, “‘We don’t have time to talk about this right now’” (Kiely and Reynolds 134). By skirting around an issue that her students are obviously passionate about Webber only makes students more insistent and determined to voice their concerns. This teacher is afraid to discuss uncomfortable issues like racial discrimination and police brutality, but in a community divided such as their own, denying students open discourse promotes more ignorance and aggression. Such is what meets Ms. Webber as students chant Rashad’s name until they are promptly ordered out (Kiely and Reynolds 135). Chanting his name does not bring about any change and neither does ignoring the important issues. Ms. Webber’s approach, or lack thereof, to controversial issues in the classroom results in hasty and unproductive decisions by her students.

Coach Carney enacts a similar method with his players, to simply “‘ignore that shit,’” which causes his students to lazily adopt this thinking (Kiely and Reynolds 138). Quinn states after listening to Coach Carney’s spiel, “Maybe leaving all the shit at the door wasn’t such bad advice. And hell, it wasn’t my problem, really, right?” (Kiely and Reynolds 139). As a white student that does not really know Rashad, it is easy for Quinn to absolve himself of responsibility and simply adopt the perspective of his coach; however, ignoring the issues that obviously affects his community and life just ensure their further proliferation to other students like him and Rashad. Coach Carney says to ignore the racial violence and aggression between students because he is concerned with winning basketball games. By choosing to absolve himself of responsibility, he is placing his own personal priorities over those of his students’ community. This model – of teachers preaching educational gains over social ones as the path to success – is similar to that expressed in The Outsiders.

The activism promoted by the other camp of educators in All American Boys represents the power that the education system has to facilitate societal change. One such example is Mr. Fisher who, Jill states, “‘Spent our whole history class talking about it. If anybody wanted to talk about it more after school, he would. Me and Tiffany talked about it all day, so we went. There were a bunch of us there, and Fisher’s helping us figure out what to do’” (Kiely and Reynolds 184). Mr. Fisher’s students feel liberated by the open line of communication he offers to discuss the violence occurring in their neighborhood. When Paul beats Rashad it affects white students as well as black students; both groups are conflicted and unsure how to channel their anger into productive microcosmic societal change. Mr. Fisher provides this space. None of his students resort to further violence, as far as the reader knows, but instead organize a protest march, a tangible pathway for change. The difference is clear between students who are exposed to the activism rhetoric and those who are not; Jill is not conflicted over her feelings, despite that Paul is her cousin, and works to organize the protest, whereas Quinn, who does not have Mr. Fisher, is conflicted and confused.

Within this vein of activism, the graffiti tag left at the school is a form of non-violent protest that marks the school as the epicenter of tension and space for change. Upon entering the school on Tuesday, Quinn notes the graffiti tag on the front steps of the school. It was, “So huge every single student, teacher, administrator, staff member, parent, and visitor to Springfield Central had to step over or around, and could not miss [it]” (Kiely and Reynolds 165). This graffiti tag, although it can be viewed as destruction of property, is a form of inescapable non-violent protest. By placing it on the steps, rather than on the side of the school, it forces everyone to either walk over or walk around it, signifying the acknowledgment or dismissal of its stance. The graffiti causes a shift in the students, as those that agree with its purpose and the activism it promotes congregate around it, using it as a beacon to call for all those of similar ideologies towards it, while simultaneously repelling those that do not agree. The words are not provocative or political, but rather a simple state of fact that “Rashad is absent again today” (Kiely and Reynolds 165). The graffiti is intended to confront the teachers and students currently choosing to ignore the social climate of their school and city, with the reality of their current social climate and the existence of youth violence and racial discrimination. The high school is the one constant that connects students and incubates their sparks of ideas into tangible actions.

The portrayals of the teachers in these two novels impact how they are taught in schools. Tribunella theorizes that The Outsiders is so readily accepted and cherished by the education community because it offers the precise system that is teaching the novel as the soliton for all the students’ problems (88). This novel reaffirms the sentiment by teachers that students can come to them for help. In The Outsiders the teachers are revered, not seen as villains that demand attention to pointless tasks like in All American Boys. In fact, Ponyboy’s English teacher is portrayed as accessible and understanding; when Ponyboy calls him late at night the teacher is helpful and reassuring (Hinton 179). However, Tribunella also address the issue with this offering in that, “success is likely limited only to the most exceptional youth, which is precisely the problem the conclusion of the novel suggests” (100). Ponyboy is characterized as an exceptional youth: he is surrounded by gang member and is loyal to them while shying away from violence, he sees that dropping out of high school can be an option but he preservers. Those that are not seen as exceptional, like Dally, are not saved by the education system. This is the reason that Tribunella gives for why The Outsiders is taught so feverishly in schools; the teachers are revered, and schools like for the students to think that. In contrast, All American Boys is not as widely accepted and there is little scholarship on it. This is in part due to its relatively recent publication, but also due to its less than favorable portrayal of teachers. Most of them ignore the issues that plague their students and don’t follow the select few that do care enough to do something. The novel shows a dismissing administration that sees Invisible Man as too controversial for a classroom setting. These are unattractive, albeit accurate, aspects that perhaps cause review boards to reconsider adding All American Boys to the high school curriculum.

The role of the educator is to instruct; therefore, their decisions and opinions – inadvertent or not – precipitate onto their students. Thus, the school has the power to endorse social ignorance or change, either way the students will inadvertently adopt the method imparted upon them. The Outsiders continually promotes ideas of education as an antidote to the classist struggle as Ponyboy, in the end, still uses his school as a solace. Quinn initially absorbs the methods of his teachers and coach because they already aligned with his instinct to ignore the issues directly around him; as a young white boy, the racial discrimination and police brutality do not negatively affect his life. However, All American Boys eventually disrupts this paradigm as the educators begin to set an example as to how the education system can use its authority to promote avenues for change and social advocacy, creating active young people who care for their communities. The modern issues, like those of race and social class inequality and police brutality, are all-important to the youth of America, so if the educators care about these issues, then something good will come out of it, perhaps.

Works Cited

Gruner, Elisabeth Rose. “Education.” Keywords for Childrens Literature, edited by Philip Nel and Lissa Paul, New York University Press, 2011, 70-74.

Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. Penguin Group Inc., 2006.

Reynolds, Jason, and Brendan Kiely. All American Boys. Atheneum, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division, 2015.

Tribunella, Eric L. “Institutionalizing The Outsiders: YA Literature, Social Class, and the American Faith in Education.” Childrens Literature in Education, vol. 38, no. 2, 13 June 2006, pp. 87–101., doi:10.1007/s10583-006-9016-2.

Trites, Roberta Seelinger. “’Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?’: Adolescent Literature in the Postmodern Era.” Disturbing the Universe: Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 2000 pp. 1–20. Accessed 20 Mar. 2020.

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Delaney is in her second year at the University of Florida pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in Linguistics. Her course work is concentrated in children’s and young adult literature. She is a member of Sigma Tau Delta international English honor society. Today, she is presenting on the differing systems of education and their power on adolescent students in two pieces of young adult fiction, The Outsiders and All American Boys. In her free time, she enjoys reading classic British literature and anything by Jeannette Walls.