Phoenix 24
Silence protects conflict until it becomes crisis.
Buenos Aires, April 2026. A new book by educator Andrea Kaplan confronts one of the most uncomfortable realities in contemporary education: violence in schools is not an exception, but a latent condition that often remains unspoken. Violencia en las escuelas is structured as a practical and conceptual guide, using a question-and-answer format to unpack the tensions shaping everyday life in classrooms and corridors.
The central argument is deliberately counterintuitive. Talking about violence does not stigmatize students or institutions; it creates the conditions for understanding and intervention. Avoiding the issue, by contrast, allows conflict to accumulate beneath the surface, where it becomes harder to detect and more difficult to manage.
Kaplan frames schools not as isolated spaces, but as mirrors of broader social dynamics. Inequality, frustration, family histories and cultural tensions do not stop at the school gate; they enter classrooms through the lived experiences of students and teachers. In that sense, violence is not an external disruption but an internalized expression of unresolved social pressures.
The book proposes a shift from punitive responses to preventive and relational strategies. Rather than focusing on discipline as control, Kaplan emphasizes dialogue, empathy, listening and the construction of shared norms. These tools are not presented as abstract ideals, but as operational practices that can be integrated into institutional frameworks and daily interactions.
This approach aligns with a broader rethinking of school governance. Educational environments cannot function effectively if conflict is treated only after escalation. Institutions must anticipate tensions, normalize conversation around them and embed conflict-resolution mechanisms into their pedagogical design.
The implications extend beyond the classroom. If schools are spaces of compulsory socialization, where millions of students spend years under structured authority, then the way conflict is managed within them shapes future patterns of citizenship. Learning to negotiate disagreement without violence becomes a foundational competence, not a secondary outcome.
Ultimately, the book reframes violence as a language that demands interpretation rather than suppression. Naming it is not an act of accusation, but a starting point for transformation. In that recognition lies its most strategic insight: educational systems do not eliminate conflict, but they can decide whether it becomes destructive or formative.
Detrás de cada dato, hay una intención. Detrás de cada silencio, una estructura.