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...