Teenage violence: Beyond the stereotypes
Is the rise in violence among minors unprecedented? Clearly not. However, the topic is always intriguing and invites simplistic conclusions. In the past, video games, children of divorced parents, and schools in underprivileged neighborhoods were viewed as the primary causes of violent behavior. Then came social media, Covid-19 lockdowns, gender dynamics (particularly among boys), and interactions with immigrant children who “jumped the fences” of private schools, introducing violence to the northern suburbs. Yet, the latest incident indicates that this phenomenon cannot be oversimplified; in this case, it involves girls in the southern suburbs, with parents who are scientists. All the stereotypical explanations have been debunked.
The eagerness of photogenic psychologists to attribute the “jungle of the blackboard” — to borrow a common media cliche — to the social repercussions of pandemic lockdowns and teenage addiction to TikTok and Instagram is no longer persuasive. Social media are merely new tools that amplify a phenomenon that is not new. In the recent incident, for example, the platform was used to orchestrate bullying, with a 14-year-old girl as the victim. However, bullying is not a recent pathology; it has existed for decades and is intrinsic to the competitive atmosphere found in school environments – the breeding grounds of social conflicts. Additionally, social media served as a stage that highlighted the victim’s popularity, as she likely had more followers and likes than her aggressors.
Let’s accept that school violence has always been present. The critical issue is how much our education system has evolved to prevent such incidents and whether parents are discussing this problem with their children at home. A few months ago, we witnessed a realistic campaign from the Ministry of Education addressing school bullying. But are educators and school authorities truly aware of the issue? Do they know how to respond to the early signs that a child is suffering from bullying, or do they wait for physical altercations to occur before taking action? Are parents concerned that their child might be a victim or perpetrator of school bullying, or are they too preoccupied with grades and their child’s future career? Is the topic even discussed in class, or does no one – neither students nor teachers – have the inclination to stray from the prescribed curriculum?
