well, it's like the Columbine shooters - what they did was evil and a crime, but they had also been bullied, they had been taking Ritalin, and so on. Some kids get bullied or have issues but they don't turn to violence. Others do. We don't know why only some are triggered to violence, but we could, as a society, make more of an effort to get rid of some of the root causes - create less tolerance for bullying, for example, and provide better support for children in abusive situations.

It's not OK to expect young girls to bear the burden for the insecurities of adolescent males, however. They are going through their own misery - the level of depression among this group is pretty bad. Social media just makes it worse for girls, and they are often targeted by adult men looking for sex. It's a lot for a young girl to navigate, to also burden her with the need to look after the ego of her male peers is not fair.

OTOH, both teen girls and boys could do with a lesson in manners. A lot of the hurt feelings and meanness of teen culture could be eradicated if people simply learned how to be polite and set good boundaries for themselves and others.