A likely excessive exposure to the internet, both in terms of duration and violent content, and a general inability to manage frustration that erupted into aggression: these are the ingredients that may have led a 13-year-old student to stab, in Rome, the teacher who had assigned him two failing grades. "These are very different elements, but together they become significant," psychologist Anna Maria Giannini of Sapienza University of Rome told ANSA.
The first important element in this case, she observes, is exposure to the online world, both in terms of the amount of time spent and the quality of the content. "Prolonged exposure can lead people with a high immersive tendency to be permeated by what they see — for example, violent content — and the perpetrators of violent acts are often perceived as heroes." The second element is the inability to manage frustration: "We know that aggression increases when something obstructs our needs, such as a failing grade at school. It is becoming increasingly difficult," the expert continues, "to process frustration in a constructive way, and this can happen because young people are not gradually exposed, on an educational level, to understanding, processing and emotionally regulating their feelings. Essentially, it is necessary to accept obstacles and engage in constructive responses: for example, when faced with a failing grade, you study harder. A non-constructive response — that is, one 'inadequate to the frustration' — leads to a sharp surge in aggression." Combined, these two elements "become an explosive mixture: there is a risk of confusing the physical world with the online world to the point of failing to consider the consequences and the emotions of others — empathy is not activated."
The deliberate nature of the 13-year-old student's behaviour fits into this picture, as does the fact that he filmed the violent act, "considered so heroic as to want to show it." Also at play are the emulation of the perpetrators of violent acts witnessed online, and the search for one's own identity, typical of a developmental phase in which rebellion against adults is physiological.
Finally, Giannini observes, there is the fact that "today teachers are no longer regarded with the moral standing they should have. In the past, their authority was recognised and they were respected. There is no value system to help young people grow: it has been completely overturned and has shifted entirely onto influencers."
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