Until recently, reading about school shootings organized by adolescents was somewhat reserved for the international section of the newspapers, with epicenter in the United States. But in recent weeks, two public schools of the Buenos Aires party of Escobar were the scene of alarming plans: groups of students, using WhatsApp, tried to coordinate armed attacks inspired by the most brutal massacres in recent history. What seemed before a distant phenomenon, now crudely bursts into the police section of the Argentine media.
The first case came to light on April 4 in the School of Secondary Education No. 4 of Maschwitz Engineer. There, four teenagers between 13 and 15 years created a WhatsApp group entitled “School shooting”, where they shared alarming messages. “After we kill others we take a tour of the school to see if someone was alive”wrote one of the students, who, according to judicial sources, would have led the initiative and presented psychiatric history. For legal reasons, students ‘names cannot be disseminated, although terror between students’ parents spread strongly.
Chats included details about the use of weapons and strategies to carry out the attack. “It is a shooting. It is not going and killing who you want. It is going and with the weapons shoot everywhere, as long as they give the goal,” he read in another of the messages. The situation was discovered when one of the students alerted their parents, who notified school authorities. The Juvenile Prosecutor, Josefina Sellaertintervened immediately. A criminal case was opened in charge and precautionary measures were ordered that included the prohibition of approaching those involved to school for four months and the implementation of virtual classes for them. It should be noted that in the raids to the houses of those involved no weapons were found.
Testimonies Faced with the danger of the matter, News spoke with the mother of one of the students of the course in question: “As a mother is distressing. And although among the parents we talk about everything that concerns our children and we are present, there is an impenetrable layer that weave hidden to which it is not reached if they do not allow it.”
A week after the case of Maschwitz engineer, a similar situation was presented at the Middle Provincial School No. 2 “Fray Luis Beltrán” by Matheu. A woman, who identified as a student’s mother, sent screenshots to a preceptor, showing a WhatsApp group where a shooting was planned for Friday afternoon. In the messages, a student harangued them: “I love you all Pillos”, while talking about a teacher who “already charged.”
However, with the progress of the investigation, it was discovered that the complainant was not the mother of any student and that the names provided did not correspond to students of the institution. These incidents in Escobar also showed the urgent need to address school violence and access to extreme content. Thus, the prosecutor Sellaert expressed concern for the possibility that these episodes are reflecting a tendency influenced by the media and the emotional fragility that many adolescents live. “We are investigating whether these plans were real or a joke in bad taste. But, in any case, the threats are serious and should be treated as such”said the judicial official.
With the passing of the hours, justice as a preventive measure until the resolution of the investigation, ordered police surveillance at school and meetings with parents and educational authorities.
Influences Both cases not only share an alarming pattern but also reveal a phenomenon that expands beyond school walls. There is an undeniable influence on series consumption such as “Adolescence“, Available in Netflix, where the youth life marked by anxiety, bullying, uprooting and violence is portrayed. To that is added the impact of films that portray school massacres in the United States, such as “Elephant” (2003), “We have to talk about Kevin” (2011) and “Bowling for Columbine” (2002). In these fictions, young people are not only victims, but also perpetrators, often pushed by an environment that marginalizes them and a culture of the show that glorifies the tragedy.
“My son does not want to go back to school. He is afraid,” confessed a Mother of the Middle School No. 4 before the cameras of America 24. “I never imagined that something like that could happen here,” he added. A student from the same institution, who preferred to maintain anonymity, said: “I thought it was a joke, but when I saw the weapons in the chat, I got scared.”
From the educational community, the reactions have been of dismay and called to reflection. The educational and municipal authorities have implemented measures to address the situation, including security protocols, psychological containment for students and informative meetings with parents. The District Inspector of the Province of Buenos Aires, Laura Valla, actively participated in these initiatives, seeking to guarantee the safety and well -being of the school community.
Viviana, mother of one of the students of the Maschwitz Engineer Collegeit is overwhelming: “Our society is immersed in extreme violence and that inevitably reaches them and form. There is violence in everything, in social networks, in sport, in the cinema, in a march of retirees and even in Congress. Unfortunately, the sites where our children are safe are reduced only to the home, as long as we talk about ‘normal’ parents.
Local case. In the midst of this scenario, a case that marked Argentine school history, the one of Rafael Juniors Aysch. On September 28, 2004, with only 15 years, Juniors entered the classroom of the Middle School No. 2 Malvinas Islands, in Carmen de Patagonesarmed with a 9 mm gun that he had taken from his father’s closet, an Navy NCOs. He shot at his teammates, killing three and hurting another five. Then, he delivered. He was unimputable for his age and since then his life takes place between treatments and anonymity. The echo of that massacre still resonates in each attempt of replica, real or imaginary.
On the bond of trust with his son, Viviana says: “I spoke a lot with him after what happened and told me that he would never have imagined that his classmates could do something like that. His course is divided into groups, but these are not divided by hate, but united by affinity of activities and seniority in school.”
These potential massacres, beyond borders, share a disturbing pattern: young, often socially isolated, that find in violence a form of expression or revenge.
A phenomenon that became a global epidemic that puts the educational and mental health system in check. The question remains how to prevent an upcoming attack when the model is already installed and circulates, crudely, at the edges of popular culture.
