Why are attacks inside schools growing in Brazil?

In recent weeks, the whole country has been shocked by the attacks on schools in São Paulo and Santa Catarina that killed a teacher and four children. If in the United States, hundreds of cases like this occur every year, in Brazil, this type of violence has been growing every year. A recent study by Unicamp counted at least 24 attacks since 2000.

With each attack, families, scholars and the press discuss the causes of the problem. The most mentioned factors are relationship problems of the aggressors. The difference is that, if before, they lived in isolation, now they communicate and encourage each other in Internet forums.

For them, the attacks represent revenge and their implementation brings fame among peers. The dissemination of photos, videos and names further encourages violence.

For this reason, security authorities have sought to scour the networks to identify teenagers and young people likely to kill students and teachers in schools, in order to curb the attacks. In São Paulo, a week after a student stabbed a teacher to death, the police registered 279 threats of new attacks.

Meanwhile, politicians take advantage of the commotion to attack opponents or propose immediate solutions. The left superficially blames the “culture of hate” that would have been fostered by the previous government. The right is betting on more policing in schools.

Given the increased risk to children, what should parents do to protect their children? Psychologists recommend daily quality time together, conversations that show that it is normal to be frustrated with the difficulties of life and affective relationships, in addition to paying extra attention to friendships and possible deviant behavior inside or outside the house.

This is the subject of Monday’s Second Opinion (10), with Renan Ramalho, Paula Marisa, Flávio Gordon and Karina Michelin.