Teens are killing, and a careless society keeps looking the other way
Por Ana Cruz
As a mother, I am terrified by the thought that a simple argument between teenagers could end in a tragedy like the case of Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old who was stabbed in the heart by another teen, Karmelo Anthony, during a school event. It shakes me to the core. But I also ask myself: how could something like this not happen, when we live surrounded by adults who can barely manage their own stress and emotions?
Science confirms it: the adolescent brain is not yet fully developed—especially the parts responsible for judgment, empathy, and impulse control. Yet we demand mature behavior from them while they’re navigating a world that constantly bombards them with toxic stimuli, violence disguised as entertainment, and increasingly blurred moral boundaries.
We are raising generations in a culture of permissiveness, afraid to correct, to discipline, to set limits. Because God forbid we offend someone. Because we live in a fragile society, where saying what needs to be said, what hurts, what bothers us, has become almost an act of rebellion.
Now let’s talk about bullying. It’s been said the suspect was a victim of school bullying. As a woman, inmigrant, latina, name it, I too experienced bullying firsthand. I was humiliated, made to feel small—it hurt deeply. But never, not even in my darkest moments, did the idea of taking someone’s life cross my mind. My conscience wouldn’t have allowed it. Nor would my values. Nor the upbringing I received.
In my home, we were taught to defend ourselves. “If someone insults you, respond. If someone hits you, hit back—so they don’t do it again.” But never, not once, were we told: “If someone bothers you… kill.”
And that’s what breaks me inside.
How is it possible that such a brutal act could be justified?
How is it possible that we’re normalizing violence to this degree?
At what point did killing become a logical response to an emotional conflict?
What kind of social rules are we writing?
What are we planting in our children’s hearts?
Is this the beginning of an emotional, ethical, and spiritual collapse that will go down in history?
We can’t keep looking the other way.
We can’t allow the fear of discomfort to silence us.
We must speak, act, educate, and demand a reconstruction of values.
This isn’t just an individual issue—it’s a shattered mirror where we’re all reflected.
The Emotional Crisis Among U.S. Youth
Nearly 60% of teen girls in the U.S. report persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This reflects an unprecedented emotional crisis in this demographic.
1 in 4 teens says they don’t receive the emotional support they need, while parents believe their children are receiving nearly three times as much support. This disconnect contributes to rising levels of depression, anxiety, and sleep issues.
In 2023, nearly one-third of U.S. teens received mental health treatment, highlighting a growing demand for emotional support services.
And now, the verdict.
The legal verdict we leave to the courts, hoping—like everyone—that it will be fair. That the facts are analyzed objectively, that the evidence is weighed carefully, and that the decisions are guided by truth, not by media pressure or public opinion.
But the social verdict—that one is not in the hands of judges or juries.
It belongs to us.
We must accept it, recognize it, and confront it, whether we’ve played an active or passive role in a system that has failed—at home, in schools, in the streets, and yes… in our hearts.
There are two families torn apart:
One saw the dreams, the laughter, and the life of their beloved son vanish forever.
The other now faces the devastating reality of watching their child destroy his own future because of a reckless action—likely taken without fully understanding the consequences, without the maturity to grasp the irreversible.
Both families are in mourning, though in different ways.
And we, as a society, should be mourning too.
Because when one young life is lost, and another is swallowed by darkness, it is not just a distant tragedy… it is a collective fracture.
A blaring siren we can no longer afford to ignore.