<|begin_of_text|><|begin_of_text|><|begin_of_text|>* Even with the proliferation of antiviolence curricula, sometimes teachers may decide to simply take matters into their own hands. Arnold Pakula, a fifth-grade teacher at the Highland Oaks Elementary School in Dade County, Fla., reached<wm> for a can of compressed air from his backpack to protect students from a group of overeager raccoons. Instead, the class simply used it to clean up stray catfish, a project the class worked on during lunch.

**Commentary**

Pakula's experiment raises important questions about what kind of power we should have over our students and their classrooms. **What do they really need protection from, and who would otherwise take it or neglect?** Is the traditional lesson of the story about</wm> violence or can you be taught the virtues of the rational response of the Highland Oaks fifth-graders?