'Bigger than bullying’: Ahmedabad school stabbing extreme, rising teen violence taking new forms, say teachers

Over the 12 years that she has taught in a private Mumbai high school, Reena Joseph* has seen the nature of conflicts between students change.

“The nature of aggression is different now,” she said. “I see more of revenge and vengeance in the way conflicts escalate. Earlier, fights ended in scuffles. Now, children are ready to take it a step further.”

The murder of a Class 10 student at the hands of a junior at the Seventh Day Adventist School Ahmedabad sent shockwaves through the community and triggered violent protests. While school-ground conflicts that escalate to murder are still rare, teachers across schools say they have noticed a significant uptick in aggression among students.

From playground scuffles escalating into assaults to cyberbullying that spills offline, accounts from teachers, parents and psychologists suggest a troubling shift. Aggression, once containable, is now reinforced by online exposure, parental defensiveness, and patchy school policies that often fail to prevent escalation.

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Given the nature of the subject and the often fractious relationship between schools and parents, most teachers and parents Careers360 spoke to requested and were granted anonymity. Some names have been changed for the same reason.

‘Parents more defensive’

The lack of trust between schools and parents makes matters worse. Teachers who have reported aggressive behaviour of children have found parents to be more defensive than responsive.

“The moment you point out their child’s mistake, they’re quick to turn it into a confrontation, sometimes even pulling the media into it. This emboldens the child and makes it harder for schools to intervene,” said the Mumbai teacher.

Teachers echo this concern, pointing to a growing “shielding” mentality among parents.

“When parents defend every action of the child, it breaks the triangle of trust between school, home, and student,” said a high school teacher from Mumbai who has closely dealt with a student who had needed special attention and support.

Some schools have had to summon family members for counselling as well. “Having seen cases where the entire family comes in for counselling, the way they react together has given us a whole new layer of information and perspective,” said a senior school counsellor working in a private institution in Hyderabad, Telangana. “It shows us that the problem is rarely just about the child — it’s about the family dynamic as a whole.”

Frisking daily is out of the question. “It’s impractical. There are hundreds of students. What if they don’t carry anything on the day of frisking but do so another day? That method won’t solve the problem,” she said.

Psychologists say the rise in online exposure has deepened the challenge. “The internet has altered how children perceive conflict,” said Dr. Ananya, a child psychologist now based in Chennai but who has worked in both Bengaluru and Tumkur. “They are constantly exposed to content that normalises aggression and revenge. If a child is already dealing with anger at home, the online environment can push them to act on those impulses.”

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‘Not just fights anymore’

Teachers across a wide range of schools, situated in different states, attest to the changing nature of aggression among students and find existing systems of handling them wanting.

“It’s not just the fights anymore,” said a high school teacher in Pune. “We see students targeting each other’s reputations on WhatsApp or Instagram, which later spills into real-world aggression.”

“I’ve noticed boys and girls express aggression differently. Girls often engage in relational aggression — spreading rumors, exclusion — while boys are more physically confrontational,” said a former high school counselor. Originally from Bengaluru, she has worked in various districts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Tirunalveli and Madurai.

In Ahmedabad, the Seventh Day Adventist School administration allegedly spent more time trying to cover up the incident than calling for help for the injured student. In the response of schools, too, there’s a pattern.

Intervention is difficult as teachers find both parents and school administrators uncooperative. “We want to intervene, but inconsistent enforcement from school authorities and overprotective parents makes it almost impossible,” noted a teacher from a Chennai private school.

“Even well-meaning policies fail if parents don’t participate. You can have counseling sessions, peer mediation programmes, but without support from home, they rarely succeed,” said another teacher from Chennai, drawing on her experience of working in Chennai as well as Lucknow.

Parents ‘feel helpless’

Some parents do concede there’s a problem.

A Bengaluru father, whose son studies in Class 8, recalled how he first realised the influence of online aggression. His son had been caught in school using abusive language and shoving another boy during a classroom argument that had started over a video game. Teachers later told him that the boy had been picking up such language and behavior from gaming chats and social media.

“We often don’t realise how much children pick up online. By the time they bring aggression to school, it’s already reinforced at home and in their social circles,” he added.

“When schools call about incidents, I feel defensive at first. But I’ve learned that acknowledging my child’s mistakes and cooperating with the school actually helps resolve the issue faster.”

However, parents say that schools rarely do more than just punish the child. “My child was involved in a fight last year,” said Meera Laxman, another parent from Bengaluru. “The school only imposed detention, but no counseling was offered. We ended up seeking help privately, which shouldn’t have been the case.”

A nursery teacher whose own child is now in Class 9 agreed. “Schools talk about mental health support, but it’s mostly a checkbox,” she said. “Only some private schools have actual trained counselors. Many of us feel helpless.The system expects parents to manage behavior but without proper guidance from schools, it becomes a blame game instead of a solution.”

Highest rate of cyberbullying

School violence in India presents a complex and deeply unsettling challenge, a reality that recent, high-profile incidents like the Ahmedabad stabbing have brought to public attention, said Rekha. J, a parent and a former school teacher from Kerala.

Based on her experience of enrolling her own children and observing her friends, schools often list rules and regulations in almanacs or handbooks, but over the years, she hasn’t seen consistent implementation of these policies, she said..

This violence is not just physical. A 2022 report by computer security firm McAfee highlighted that India has the world's highest rate of cyberbullying among children, revealing a digital dimension that often fuels real-world conflict.

‘Bigger than bullying’

“This dynamic is new,” Samarth D,a father of three from Chennai, said. “It’s bigger than just bullying. It’s a cycle of anger, defensiveness, and misplaced protection. If we don’t address this, the next incident might already be waiting.”

A clinical psychologist from Chennai who has worked with adolescent children for over seven years added that while awareness programmes and open communication between parents, teachers, and students are crucial, solutions also lie in clinical attention to children’s mental health.

“Communication, regular check-ins, and creating a safe space for children to talk are vital to tackling bullying and aggression. But beyond that, many cases are layered with deeper clinical issues like ADHD or personality disorders. Only proper diagnosis and sustained counseling can ensure we don’t just react to violence, but prevent it by understanding behavioural patterns early,” she said.

She cited examples of cases where children show aggression in the way they talk, or display a starkly different personality at home and outside. “Our job is always to dig deep into root causes and understand the loop behind the behaviour,” she said. “I have come across instances, especially among eighth- and tenth-graders or sometimes even pre university students, where fights break out from jealousy or turn into group clashes. These patterns remind us that it’s not just about one incident — it’s about tracing the triggers and helping children unlearn aggression. They need to learn not to act on impulse, not to reach for something that could cause harm, but to pause and think rationally before responding.”

* Name changed to protect identity