A number of recent incidents show a surge in violence and youth crime in France. The online space where young people move around with ease plays a major role in this while parents often have no idea what content their children access, a clinical psychologist says.

A violent attack on Samara in Montpellier, the death of Shemseddine in Viry-Chatillon,a 15-year-old teenager stabbed to death in Romans-sur-Isere: France is witnessing a spate of tragic events involving very young adolescents, both as perpetrators and victims. In an analysis for the investigative news portal Factuel Media, clinical psychologist and essayist Johanna Rozenblum points out that there is currently no valid scientific study on a group large enough to document a quantitative increase in violence among young people.

However, there is an undeniable increase in the forms of violence: more verbal violence, more physical violence and even more „self-aggression”, i.e. suicide attempts, mutilations, self-inflicted injuries and eating disorders. Personally, I meet more and more patients who harm their own physical integrity, she says in her analysis.

The psychologist also points out that the nature of violence has changed recently: a misunderstood glance can result in a conflict being settled directly with a knife.

Today, a secondary school student can get killed as he leaves school because a classmate thinks he has misbehaved or „looked bad” at his sister. This behavioural disinhibition is new,

she says, adding that impunity on social media is reflected in reality, with violent acts being almost the logical consequence of online impunity.

Violence is often linked to a loss of parental authority, Johanna Rozenblum says. Adolescents behaving violently generally come from a bad family background. The role of social networking sites in harassment is also evident.

It is very easy for a young person to become a victim of cyber-harassment (online harassment), stalking (obsessively following another person’s activities on social networks) or revenge porn (sharing sexually explicit content online without someone’s knowledge),

she highlights.

The expert adds that there is an increase in violence in the online space, which no one sees, regulates or moderates, for a simple reason: most parents understand nothing about social networking sites and do not interfere in their children’s digital lives.

Violence grows quietly on social networking platforms,

she points out.

Last summer’s riots in France brought the issue of parental criminal responsibility back to the fore. Johanna Rozenblum says that she is confronted with parental negligence day after day, but this is not necessarily a reproach, as the generation gap is huge.

Young people today are highly stimulated and have unlimited access to a plethora of information. Most parents have no idea what their children are doing on social networking sites, how much information they access every day on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Because they are not familiar with these platforms, they are unable to anticipate the dangers they pose. There is a huge gap between the world of adults and the digital world of young people,

she says.

She also notes that she agrees with the French education minister’s idea of banning mobile phones in schools.

Generally speaking, it is important for teenagers to have boring moments because this is what creates bonding and stimulates creativity and imagination. Moreover, if there is a problem, teens can turn to adults instead of being tempted to take the law into their own hands,

Johanna Rozenblum adds.