Why don’t US teen issues seem as bad as in the UK or Australia?
Posted by Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 99 comments
I’ve seen a lot more news about teen violence and social problems in the UK and Australia than in the US. Is this just media bias, or is there a real difference?
officerboba@reddit
It’s pretty bad for teenagers here, when I was going through highschool, it was chill but nowadays people have beef with other people in different highschool due to social media.
bryku@reddit
The amount of news you see doesn't indicate the size of the problem. Some people just don't complain despite living through an economic disaster. Others will cry with there favor snack goes up $0.20
That being said, the UK has had a major shift over the last decade.
If you go back a decade and look through crime stats, you were almost twice as likely to fall victim to nearly every crime in the US than the UK. However, this has completely changed. You are 4 times more likely to get raped in the UK than the US. You are also 8 times more likely to get stabbed at a school in the UK than shot at a school in the US.
That is an INSANE change in a decade.
There has sort of been this trend over the last decade where everyone points at the US and makes fun of something. I wouldn't be surprised if you heard one of these jokes today... I think this is probably a way for foreign media to shift focus away from their local problems.
However, this doesn't mean they don't have local problems. I suspect this will probably continue to get worse as these problems get worse in other countries. But, it will eventually (maybe 2030) it will hit a wall. People won't be able to shift blame anymore and everyone will be faced to focus inward.
I think we are starting to see this with children now across the western world. It will slowly filter up through the generations, but it will take some time.
I'm not saying there aren't issues in the US. They do 100% exist, but it can be better or worse depending on where you are within the USA.
mpjjpm@reddit
Looks like you live in Australia? So yeah, you get more news coverage of what’s happening in Australia. And to some extent, more of what is happening in the US.
Teen violence and social problems are considered local issues in the US. Each city deals with it themselves. So we get local news coverage when it’s an issue in our own cities, but it doesn’t really make national news except in extreme cases. Kids fighting at the mall definitely isn’t making international news.
BasicJuggernaut4413@reddit
You do hear about all of the school shootings though. They dont have those in the uk.
mpjjpm@reddit
Sadly, they probably don’t hear about all the school shootings. Only the most extreme events make national or international news.
angrysquirrel777@reddit
There aren't that many "real" school shooting in the way you're thinking about them. The ones you don't hear about are somebody shooting somebody at or near a school but they aren't just opening up fire on a school.
mpjjpm@reddit
A person shooting someone they know at a school is a school shooting. The fact that you things that doesn’t count just goes to show how horrifically normalized gun violence is in the US.
SkiingAway@reddit
A 25 year old gang member shooting another one at 2:30AM does not have anything to do with schools or students, even if it happens to occur on the corner of the school property in the city.
It should (and is) certainly included in lists of homicides/attempted homicides, shooting incidents in the city, and so on.
Language has meaning that isn't always the most literal possible interpretation of it. No one reasonable is talking about something like that when they talk about "school shootings", and including things like that in statistics of them is being intentionally misleading.
mpjjpm@reddit
I’m not talking about incidents that happen to be in the proximity of a school. I’m talking about shootings that happen at schools, during school hours, and involving members of the school community. But because they don’t meet the FBI definition of a mass shooting, they don’t get much attention. Let me give you a couple of examples from my real life.
Two teenagers have an argument in the school cafeteria. They decide to “take it outside” after school. They walk over to the football practice field and start fighting. A bunch of students follow to watch. Someone pulls a gun and opens fire. A student bystander is shot and killed. That happened at my high school 30 years ago. Is that a school shooting?
A teacher is going through a messy divorce. She has a restraining order against her estranged husband because he’s been violent with her. He drives to the school in the middle of the day, sees his estranged wife by the school entrance and shoots her. That happened at an elementary school in my neighborhood 15 years ago. Is that a school shooting?
Neither of those incidents made national news, much less international news. Gun violence is so commonplace, it doesn’t even register when “only” one person is killed.
JudgeWhoOverrules@reddit
It's almost like the news reports on incredibly rare and unusual events instead of everyday things
krkrbnsn@reddit
Exactly this. As an American now living in the UK, teen violence and social issues are very locally driven topics (that often spill into national and international news).
I grew up in Oakland, California in the 90/00s and this was a HUGE topic. Gang violence, anti-social behavior and lack of public funded third spaces for teens was a massive issue.
I now live in London and these issues also heavily affect certain areas of the city. The decrease in local council budgets has had a huge impact on teen issues such as hooliganism and subsequent violence.
sadthrow104@reddit
Curious back in those days, was technology ever blamed for the behavior of those youths?
javiergoddam@reddit
Media bias. The commenters here are mostly white middle class. There are issues but they don't make the news bc they're routine, and the commenters here are generally insulated from how bad some low level issues are.
Suppafly@reddit
US has a much larger population, so normal news dilutes the news about teen issues. Also though, UK and Australia do seem a little behind in addressing some of those issues compared to the US. Although in the US things are often highly local, so one town might have a really good anti-online-bullying program, and the next one over will still be horrible.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
Massive "teen takeovers" have been on the rise, and they're getting both regional and national coverage.
Basically, take a "flash mob" from yesteryear, but make it like a riot. Include vandalism, shoplifting, arson, other kinds of violence.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=teen+takeover
Kingsolomanhere@reddit
The first black woman to own a Culver's restaurant has children ruining her place after school. Unbelievable
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
Disgusting, ain't it?
Kingsolomanhere@reddit
Crabs in a bucket
notthegoatseguy@reddit
4 teenage girls stabbed another girl at a local mall over the weekend and I think that's pretty bad.
Littleboypurple@reddit
Teen Issues definitely exist and can be bad in the US. The difference comes from the size of the countries and what the issues are. Some states deal with specific problems more than others so Teen Issues are typically on the local City/Town news level. A bigger issue would be at State News Level. Larger problems might be at the National News Level. Something really big needs to happen for it to make it to the International News Level.
Some Teenagers getting into a fist fight in a public park or some teenagers OD'ing at a House Party aren't really gonna make it to National News, let alone International News Level unless the amount is significantly high or there were other worse aspects of the story
DudleyAndStephens@reddit
I live in Baltimore. I can assure you that violent, criminal teenagers are a massive issue here.
Danibear285@reddit
Because we aren’t You.
Efficient-Panic3506@reddit
It’s mostly just what you’re exposed to tbh.
The US is huge so “teen problems” stay local. Stuff like fights, vandalism, etc. happens here too, it just ends up on local news instead of becoming a national story you see internationally.
Meanwhile UK/Aus are smaller so the same kind of incidents get way more visibility and feel like a bigger trend.
Also wouldn’t say US teens are doing better lol, the issues are just different (and sometimes worse, just framed differently).
jigokubi@reddit
Teens have problems here, but in the UK they seem especially susceptible to stupid trends, like the random slapping of strangers.
BlackEastwood@reddit
Id say school shootings are a big part of US teen violence.
star-wars_memer@reddit
School Shootings as Gang Violence or gang shooting in parking lot of School, someone committing suicide in the school parking lot or the true school shootings?
BigDamBeavers@reddit
All of those are true school shootings bud.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Most of the list above is not though.
BigDamBeavers@reddit
Above what? All of the instances where students are shot at a school?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
I'm saying the original comment in this thread includes a bunch of things on the list that are not "school shootings."
BigDamBeavers@reddit
"School shootings are a big part of US teen violence, and they happen all the time. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 27 have happened this month alone."
Literally only about and only discussing school shootings.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
What are you talking about?
My point is that of those 27 events, the vast majority weren't even shootings. Nevermind a "school shooting."
BlackEastwood@reddit
All of the above all, I'd say.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
The list provided includes a bunch of incidents that do not match this description.
BlackEastwood@reddit
Yes youre correct. Do you acknowledge there are incidents in the list in which it matches the description?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Do you acknowledge that by being intentionally dishonest about the problem, you make it impossible to have a discussion in good faith?
BlackEastwood@reddit
No, because the error has been corrected. Would you like me find examples that can be supported to continue the discussion?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
They absolutely have not.
This list of school shootings includes things literally described as
Another one is:
Tell me what part of this is a "school shooting."
BlackEastwood@reddit
Okay, so 27 havent happened this month. Do you disagree that school shootings are a persistent problem in America?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Not to anything remotely approaching societal overreaction to them.
BlackEastwood@reddit
More of an underreation, maybe.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
If you have to artificially inflate the number of times something has happened to justify an emotional response, it's most definitely an overreaction to reality.
BlackEastwood@reddit
Youre correct. In the situations that America has faced regarding school shootings, do you see it as a public safety problem that should immediately addressed?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Not if that action is done as an emotional response and not a practical one.
What does that action look like? Will it actually prevent issues? Or is it just to make people feel better.
If we can't even be honest about the problem, I am not at all confident I can be confident of the solution.
BlackEastwood@reddit
Those questions can only answered if you have an response youd like to implement, and a majority of them arent legislative, but consumed based. Honesty and research about the problem may be the overall crux of what prevents it from be discussed. Is the issue a mental health concern? A crime issue? A cultural concern? An overstep of personal rights?
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
I have no idea what you are trying to say.
BlackEastwood@reddit
The problem can't be resolved until it is understood.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
My entire point is that by being intentionally dishonest on this topic, we can't address the underlying issues.
Whatever actions that may be taken will be emotional responses, not logical ones.
BlackEastwood@reddit
I dont know if you can determine my intent when I have admitted I was incorrect to you several times now, nor can you determine a nation's response by one person online who has no authority to make any changes.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
You have not made a correction to your statement, so the only logical conclusion is that you wish to continue proliferating incorrect information.
BlackEastwood@reddit
On February 17th, a shooting occurred on the campus of South Carolina State University that resulted in two deaths and an injury.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wistv.com/2026/02/17/18-year-old-charged-deadly-sc-state-shooting/%3foutputType=amp
On February 23rd, one student was shot in Ohio multiple times. At the time of the article's publishing, a warrant has been issued for 18-year-old Vashawn Dixon.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.13abc.com/2026/02/23/teen-hospitalized-after-shooting-glass-city-academy/%3foutputType=amp
On March 12th, there was a death and two injuries after a shooting at Old Dominion University.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/gunman-who-injured-2-people-at-old-dominion-university-in-virginia-is-dead-college-says
On March 25th, there was a shooting at a Maryland high school, injuring one student. The suspect, a fellow student, was charged with attempted 2nd degree murder.
https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2026/03/wootton-shooting-mcps-report-details-quick-response-and-need-for-better-security/
On March 30th, a student killed a teacher and them himself at a high school in Texas.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/30/us/texas-student-shoots-teacher
On March 31st, one student was killed and a second was injured at a high school track meet. The suspect, a 13 year old buy, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.firstalert4.com/2026/04/01/police-shooting-near-mccluer-south-berkeley-one-person-custody/%3foutputType=amp
On April 7th, a principal was shot in the leg by a adult former student at Paul's Valley High School in Oklahoma.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kbtx.com/2026/04/08/high-school-principal-shot-leg-after-confronting-former-student-with-gun-sheriff-says/%3foutputType=amp
On April 10th, a student of a nearby school was fatally shot at Natomas High School.
https://www.kcra.com/article/student-shot-natomas-high-school-sacramento-police/70989756
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
https://www.firstalert4.com/2026/04/01/police-shooting-near-mccluer-south-berkeley-one-person-custody/
Let's take this incident as an example.
A shooting happened at night, after school events, in a fight between teenagers. Ok. That is obviously unacceptable. I wouldn't call that a "school shooting" though.
Setting that aside, I genuinely ask you, what do you see as a practical solution to such an event?
BlackEastwood@reddit
I would consider it a school shooting, as it was an inherent danger to students since it was on school property at a school event involving 20 other schools.
My point is to have the issue of school shootings acknowledged. If I knew how to solve the problem in a manner that everyone wohld be satisfied by, I would have started with that.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Ok. I acknowledge them.
Now what?
BlackEastwood@reddit
We're done. Thank you.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Lol. K.
BlackEastwood@reddit
I get the feeling that youre not an American, so dont think any answer I give would fully be met with an understanding of the legislative and cultural obstacles in order to resolve it. Ill ignore the moving of the goal posts from proving there was an issue to being responsible for supplying an answer for it.
On the other hand, if you ARE an American, youre fully aware of the problems and have decided to ignore the persistent issue at hand.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
I have no idea what this means.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
I interpret it to mean:
BlackEastwood@reddit
Thats a fun interpretation.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
I'm not u/GhostOfJamesStrang, but I am an American and if he hadn't gotten on it before I saw this thread, his responses are effectively the same as I would have given. What do you say to that?
Openly_Unknown7858@reddit
Not sure how them pointing out you lying implies they disagree school shootings are a problem
BlackEastwood@reddit
A mistake which I admitted to, and it wasnt an implication, but an honest question. My number was wrong, but I dont believe the severity of school shootings isnt.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
These lists by the Gun Violence Archive are notoriously disingenuous (to be charitable).
Even NPR admitted these lists are full of falsehoods: The School Shootings That Weren't
11/240 is 5% (actually 4.6%). Only 5% truth.
dan_blather@reddit
Vaping and Farm Bill loophole THC use (Delta-8, etc) are growing problems among teenagers, even in wealthy areas. I wouldn’t say it’s more prevalent than drinking and smoking weed when I was younger, except that it’s less social. You don’t hear much about cops breaking up big parties of teenagers in the woods anymore.
Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit
Media bias/overreaction
When was the last time a US teen (or group of them) caused violence in a mall? When was the last time an Australian or UK teenager shot a person?
ThatSleazyKid@reddit
Some US cities like Chicago have "teen takeovers" where literally hundreds of teenagers show up somewhere to jump on cars, stop traffic, fight, etc. However, this is not a nationwide problem & most teens seem content to just be indoors & scroll through socials or play games/watch TV. Helicopter parenting is a bigger thing here than the UK/AUS, I imagine, so teens don't really get into as much trouble on average?
dontforgettowriteme@reddit
This has also started happening in ATL.
Feather757@reddit
It happened twice in Detroit recently, too.
PG_rated_88@reddit
Same in DC.
cloudsurfinglion@reddit
I saw a news segment of it happening in north Texas (DFW metro) and it saying that it is trending in social media and cops are trying to get ahead of the issue and stop or before it happens
gard3nwitch@reddit
"Teens causing trouble" is always a local issue.
I read the Guardian for an international perspective. I don't see articles in there about teen issues being a concern in the UK. I do see articles in local US news outlets about teens fighting at a local park etc.
I imagine you're experiencing the same thing, just in reverse.
BaffledBubbles@reddit
American teens bring guns to school and mow down their classmates. It happens so much that it's basically not even news when a shooting occurs.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
At least try to live in reality.
This is an absurd statement and you know it.
BaffledBubbles@reddit
I disagree. It will run through local news for a while, but it’s barely a blip in the marquee on a national scale. We are desensitized to it.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
School shootings make national news every time.
I have no idea why you are pretending otherwise.
BaffledBubbles@reddit
Again, they stay in the media for a moment and then get disregarded quickly. Culturally, we for the most part don’t care. If we did, something would be done about it. Our children wouldn’t be at such a high risk of being shot dead in a classroom. And you can’t convince me the risk “isn’t that high.” Because any risk at all is too high. The people of the UK and Australia don’t send their children to school and worry whether they’re coming home alive or not because of a chronic mass shooting problem. And school isn’t even the only place that you’re at risk of a shooting! They happen at Walmarts, at shopping malls, movie theatres, churches, the list goes on and on. And yet, we do nothing to prevent it. If any, our culture actively encourages it.
We are not going to see eye to eye here. You’re wasting your time and so am I. Have a nice day.
sendme_your_cats@reddit
Now or in general?
Because when I was a teen, I'd spend most of my free time inside playing world of warcraft.
Though I did recently read that teen pregnancies are at an all time low now.
What kinda numbers is wow doing these days?
MyUsername2459@reddit
WoW is still going strong, the most recent expansion came out back in January.
Lots of other MMO's now though. Online gaming as a whole has become HUGE. WoW's the biggest MMORPG, but there's many, many others, and lots of other online games now of all sorts.
goblin_hipster@reddit
I think it's media bias, it makes sense that you're seeing more news about your own country. I don't know anything about Australian teens except I think phones were banned in school somewhat recently.
woodzy93@reddit
I’d say alcohol use. Yes teens still drink here, but the alcohol culture in the uk and aus seem more “free”.
ThatSleazyKid@reddit
And Gen Z is apparently putting down the drinks & picking up a joint instead. Although I imagine that might not be true in places with rougher legality like UK/AUS
star-wars_memer@reddit
Half of Gen Z is not of Drinking Age Yet
ThatSleazyKid@reddit
And....half of them are 29-21, and most people usually drink/smoke as teens (UK legal age is 18/16 depending). Most of the 20 something yr olds I know don't really drink, they mostly smoke or dip into other things
1988rx7T2@reddit
In the USA a Lot of teen social ills like pregnancy, alcohol use, and drug (besides cannabis) are down. They’re sitting at home addicted to their phones instead.
emmasdad01@reddit
Do you really think this is just the US?
JimBones31@reddit
They didn't say that at all.
emotions1026@reddit
Considering how many people on Reddit have no thoughts beyond “America bad”, I would say yes they do probably assume it is just the US.
ATLien_3000@reddit
That's not a problem unique to the US.
emotions1026@reddit
This is an interesting question and it’s a shame people are just yelling “SCHOOL SHOOTINGS!” without putting any additional thought into your question (but this is Reddit so what else can you expect). I wouldn’t say it’s “not as bad” here, but I would say our issues are very different for sure.
_Nocturnalis@reddit
Teen violence and social problems aren't a big deal or very violent compared to the UK or Australia?
Could you tell me what the running joke about American school kids is please?
If you want a serious answer I'm going to need a clearer phrased question. What social problems do you mean as serious that faces these commonwealth teens?
BigDamBeavers@reddit
That's some insane media bias. We get shot in high school.
Minimum-Attitude389@reddit
Are school shootings not violent enough?
There's plenty of violence and social problems with teenagers, but the US has accepted them as normal and even romanticizes it.
tropicalcel88@reddit
you da real reddit
Minimum-Attitude389@reddit
I'm waiting for a romantic story or movie with a plot taking place during an active shooter drill. I know it's going to happen eventually.
Maybe I'll pitch it to Disney.
ubiquitous-joe@reddit
Well our number one cause of teen death is gun violence from mass shooters, so I’d say we have a few issues y’all may not have.
But the arc of how social problems are reported on is its own cycle. And then there’s the anecdotal aspect of what you personally watch, especially in the age of the algorithm. It is skewed. So whatever these “teen issues” are, you’d want some statistical sense of them to compare meaningfully.
Tight_File2220@reddit
Visit Chicago's South Side
BigNorseWolf@reddit
What issues are they having in the Uk or Aus? Things are just generally crappy in the USA so I think our teens shooting each other isn't an issue, nothing going on with them will be.
Khuros@reddit
You just live in a non-urban environment with low population density OP. The US has the same if not worse issues post pandemic in our coastal cities. Utah and Nebraska? Not so much, since there are more cows than youths.