In the past, Amy and I have both mentioned studies and articles about the rise of aggression in girls. If you look merely at the stats released by the FBI and the way certain members of the media have begun to spin them, you'd think young women were turning into raving lunatics, attacking anything and anyone that can't outrun them. (No chocolate jokes involved here, though it's tempting!)
Robert Roy Britt, Managing Editor at LiveScience.com, says that these statistics are being hyped and distorted. According to his article posted on Yahoo! News, the headlines are pretty out of proportion with what the stats really say. One factor involved here is not that girls are necessarily behaving differently or worse than in the past, but that the behavior and acts are now considered "assault" and handled through police action such as arrests, rather than other methods.
As the ex-wife of a law enforcement officer who has gone on many a "ride-along" in a busy city, I can attest that certain calls are handled in a manner that they might not have been years ago. In order to decrease liability and comply with a school's zero tolerance rules, a teacher or school administrator may call the police and an arrest be affected where in the past detention or counseling may have been used to deal with an aggressive girl (or boy) and their untoward behavior.
What do you think? Do go read the article and look closely at the numbers yourself. Is this a matter of girls acting out more, or just getting caught (or punished) more?
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