In recent years there have been several instances of junior and high school girls exerting extreme violence on one another, a problem which appears to be growing. In May 2003, the country was shocked and repulsed to learn about a ritual hazing that took place in a Chicago suburban high school after a “powder-puff” football game. According to this article, the girls were “beaten, pushed, and showered with human excrement during the muddy brawl.” Everything was videotaped by other students.
In the past several weeks there have been similar problems with girl violence. In Texas, five cheerleaders who were dubbed the “Fab Five” insulted teachers and other authority figures, skipped classes, posted sexual pictures on MySpace.com, and yet were allowed to get away with such behavior. A possible contributing factor to these incidents was the fact that the mother of the group’s ring leader was the principal of the high school. Most recently, there was a video released on MySpace.com and YouTube.com showing the brutal beating of an eighth grade girl by three ninth grade girls in North Babylon, NY.
According to Uniform Crime Report data from 1992 to 2003, the number of girls arrested rose 6.4 percent. Girls arrested on assault charges rose 41 percent during that same time period. That is a shocking statistic and forces people to look at the issue and wonder what is causing this problem. Why are girls becoming increasingly violent? Does it have to do with movies such as Heathers and Mean Girls which depict high school girls treating each other in similar fashion? Or is it a parent issue, meaning parents aren’t around enough to teach their daughters appropriate behavior? Should we point fingers at the schools? Why are other kids, and sometimes adults, just standing around watching the behavior occur and videotaping it?
Regardless of who or what is to blame and why, the question that really needs to be answered is what can be done to prevent this behavior from occurring in the first place?
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