This mythical wave of girls’ violence and meanness is, in the end, contradicted by reams of evidence from almost every available and reliable source. Yet news media and myriad experts, seemingly eager to sensationalize every “crisis” among young people, have aroused unwarranted worry in the public and policy arenas. The unfortunate result is more punitive treatment of girls, including arrests and incarceration for lesser offenses like minor assaults that were treated informally in the past, as well as alarmist calls for restrictions on their Internet use.
One of my favorite readings from my undergrad Media Studies days was Mike Males, discussing the widespread myths and misconceptions about youth activity and supposed violence. Seems the media hasn’t come very far in the past decade, even though youth are actually getting *less* violent.