Response to Jenna

Jenna posted the question "Do you think these are results of children not being educated well enough about violence and the severe consequences? Or some people just live for thrills no matter what the consequence?" concerning the kill thrill that teens/pre-teens seem to have

I don't think that these children are hurting people because of lack of education on violence. There are plenty of classes and clubs and even events like mock-accidents out there to teach kids about the acts and consequences of violence to not just other people but themselves. I think people will hurt others when they believe that those others don't matter to them. Like in your example of the story of the 18 year olds attacking a homeless person they probably believed because he was of low status that his life did not matter to them and because he wouldn't do what they wanted and buy them alcohol that it was okay to harm him and maybe even kill him. Some people like those teens think that nothing bad will ever happen to them and that they can do whatever they want to people who they believe to be inferior to themselves. They may think they won't get caught and the consequences of harming someone (stranger or not) won't happen to them. People forget the golden rule and don't treat others as equals just because they don't appear to be equal to them.

Could this just be teen rebelliance or a violent gene? or something else completely?