The tragic circumstances surrounding the fatal stabbing of 12-year-old school boy Elliott Fletcher during a school yard fracas at St Patrick’s College at Shorncliffe Brisbane on Monday 15 February has sent shock waves around the country.

It has prompted new calls for more security at the school gate and the introduction of metal detectors. However these measures do not address the underlying problems facing both the children and parents of this generation.

Experts are beginning to respond to this growing crisis in our schools. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, a psychologist and Generation Next speaker, is an internationally recognised authority on teenage behaviour. He told the 7.30 Report that “the reality is that what we need in schools is a framework which is gonna help work through the massive complexity of bullying and metal detectors aren’t gonna be the solution”.

What is it in our society and community that would lead a 13 year old boy to resort to such violence in order to settle a play ground argument? Did he really understand the full implications and consequences of his actions? Stabbing another person is a very serious action, one which can and did end in the futile loss of a young and precious life. In the process it has also destroyed the life of the perpetrator.

Kerry O’Brien from the 7.30 Report asked Dr Michael Carr-Gregg “How capable is a young adolescent today of understanding consequences?”

“I think what the research is now showing us very clearly is that the teenage brain is fully developed in the mid-20s; there’re gender differences, girls brains seem to be developed round about 23, boys on a good day with the wind behind you, 25. But the reality is that kids need guidelines, they need boundaries, they need limits and they need examples set. But they also need clear guidelines as to what is and what is not acceptable behaviour,” he replied.

Resorting to violence as a means of conflict resolution among teenagers is increasing in our schools with this incident alone being the second school stabbing involving students in Brisbane in the last fortnight. It also highlights a growing trend within Australian youth to carry knives.

Deakin University chair of health psychology John Toumbourou co-authored a study into the difference between the gun culture pervading US schools and the growing knife culture in Australian schools. His study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, found that more than one in six Australian boys had been involved in violence in the 12-month study period.

This is supported by Professor Paul Mazerolle, a Queensland criminologist and director of Griffith University’s Violence Research Program who says there is growing anecdotal evidence to suggest schools are getting more violent. “What is particularly concerning is the young people are carrying knives. If anything, we are fortunate that we don’t have a gun culture in Australia like they do in other parts of the world,” he said.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, an incident like this raises many issues such as cyber bullying, violent computer games, binge drinking and the isolation and anxiety that many teenagers experience while just trying to deal with their daily lives.

Professor Toumbourou says instead of increasing security measures; Australia should be dealing with the underlying problems that trigger the attacks. “We’ve got to get major reductions in alcohol use among adolescents and we’ve got to do a lot to build the skills to stop people reacting violently,” he said. “You need to get the environment so that young people are aware of how to relate to one another and there’s not alcohol in the background causing unnecessary violent events. In Australia, alcohol use is high amongst adolescents,” he said.

Anxiety, depression and stress levels experienced by young people today is at an all time high; with bullying, harassment and the constant need to bow to peer pressure playing a large part of the cause.

Dr Carr-Gregg says fatal stabbings are “very rare”, but the broader problem of bullying and harassment in schools must be recognised. “In 2005, Gene Healy from the University of Western Sydney said it was about one in five. And Professor Donna Cross’s report in 2009 was that it’s one in four. So it’s definitely there and it would appear on the surface to be getting worse,” he said. The NSW Parliament has just completed an inquiry into bullying and harassment.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg also pointed out that “there’s a spike in bullying when kids move from primary to secondary, we know that boys engage in the more physical stuff and the girls the more psychological stuff”.

Research has identified 5 key factors which influence both male and female youth violence as they make their transition from childhood into adulthood, they are:

1. The individual
2. The family
3. The school
4. The community
5. The peer group

This passage would be made easier if the community, schools, parents and teenagers were better equipped with life skills such as face to face communication, anger management, problem solving, decision making and conflict resolution. If more time was spent participating in hobbies and outside interests where real life experiences and social interaction occurred and less time was spent in front of the computer living  a ‘virtual life’ through social networks and games.

This is compounded by the breakdown in communication that many parents are experiencing with their children. Parents are flying blind, with no social ‘indicators’ to tell them where their teenagers are really at and no common ‘shared’ interests on which to build the firm foundations of a meaningful relationship where the lines of communication are open and accessible for both parties.

Finally Dr Michael Carr-Gregg stressed the importance of parents keeping the lines of communication open with their children and told Kerry O’Brien how they could best explain recent events to them and reassure them.

“Well, first of all, that it was an unusual incident. They need to be asked how they feel. They need to have their feelings legitimised, and they need to be told then that this is a moment that we can learn from, that we can move on from, and that most importantly, the reality is we live in a very, very safe country, it’s unlikely to happen again”.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha

The full 7.30 Report transcript with Dr Michael Carr-Gregg