{"id":566487,"date":"2025-11-14T16:48:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T19:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=566487"},"modified":"2025-11-14T16:50:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T19:50:10","slug":"hate-speech-provokes-violence-in-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/hate-speech-provokes-violence-in-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Hate speech provokes violence in schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

In environments weakened by the devaluation of the teaching profession and the deterioration of school infrastructure, where students suffer psychological distress and conflict management policies are scarce or nonexistent, hate speech spread via online communities and social media can have a devastating effect. The issue is considered central to the rise in extreme attacks that occurred in Brazil between 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n

The federal government\u2019s National Human Rights Observatory (ObservaDH) estimates that there were 43 such attacks in Brazil between 2001 and 2024, resulting in 168 victims, of which 47 died and 115 were injured (see graph<\/em>). Six attackers also died. Firearms were used in 19 of the attacks and all of the perpetrators were men. Police investigations found that many of them were influenced by online hate speech. \u201cExtremist communities and forums have been identified as spaces of radicalization where young people are encouraged to plan and carry out acts of extreme violence,\u201d says sociologist Daniel Cara of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), who led the study \u201cAttack on schools in Brazil: Analysis of the phenomenon and recommendations for government action,\u201d carried out by a working group established by the MEC and published at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n \n \n \n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>
\n

Cara points out that shootings have been recorded at schools in the USA since the nineteenth century. In Brazil, the attack on a school in Realengo, Rio de Janeiro, in 2011 is considered the beginning of a new phase of extreme violence, followed by the tragedy that occurred in Suzano, S\u00e3o Paulo, in 2019. \u201cThese attacks were carried out by students and former students in response to resentment, failures, and violence experienced in life and in the school community. Many are copycat crimes based on previous attacks,\u201d explains the researcher.<\/p>\n

In 2019, psychologist and researcher Marilene Proen\u00e7a Rebello de Souza was serving as director of USP\u2019s Psychology Institute when she received an urgent call from the university’s dean at the time, Vahan Agopyan. He tasked her with coordinating a group of 22 professionals, including specialists in emergencies and school psychology, to provide emergency assistance to the school where the attack took place in Suzano. The team began work on the day of the attack, which affected the entire city. According to Souza, more than 1,500 people sought health services in the municipality in the period following the tragedy due to the psychological impact of the event. \u201cI have been researching violence and education since 1985 and I have never experienced anything like it. Since then, this new form of aggression has become a priority in my research,\u201d says the USP psychologist, who participated in a national survey on violence and discrimination in schools between 2016 and 2018, conducted at the request of the MEC.<\/p>\n

See more:<\/strong>
\n– Increase in school violence in Brazil over the last 10 years<\/a><\/div>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In her opinion, the return of face-to-face classes after the COVID-19 pandemic came with additional challenges in the school environment, including a need to strengthen the sense of belonging and coexistence between students and school staff. Souza is currently director of the Science Center for the Development of Basic Education: Learning and Coexistence in Schools, which was approved in 2024 and funded by FAPESP and SEDUC-SP and aims to support the formulation of public policies on the issue.<\/p>\n

The absence of a national program designed to improve the school climate is highlighted by researchers as one of the obstacles to tackling violence in the country. \u201cAddressing the discrimination and prejudices that lead to violence is not part of the school curriculum and the topic only appears on the agenda of education departments when there are extreme cases,\u201d points out Souza. She notes that Brazil has a National Common Curriculum to establish mandatory content for basic education, but it does not have a curricular matrix focused on coexistence in schools. \u201cThe task of educating students as citizens, which is centered on dialogue, participation, and guaranteeing rights, must not be treated as secondary,\u201d argues the researcher.<\/p>\n

Another problem is growing access to firearms. Psychologist Danielle Tsuchida Bendazzoli, project coordinator at the Sou da Paz Institute, says that attacks at schools in Brazil have worsened since 2019, a period that coincides with the relaxation of rules on the possession and carrying of firearms. Data collected by the institute show that between 2019 and 2022, the number of registered weapons in Brazil increased from 695,000 to 1.9 million. \u201cWhen firearms are used in this type of attack, the number of victims is on average three times higher,\u201d says the psychologist. The institute\u2019s 2023 report \u201cRaio x de 20 anos de ataques \u00e0s escolas no Brasil\u201d (\u201cOverview of 20 years of attacks at schools in Brazil\u201d) showed that in 60% of cases in which firearms were involved, they were obtained inside the perpetrator\u2019 own home.<\/p>\n

Increase in violent attacks coincides with growing presence of extremist communities online<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Telma Pileggi Vinha, a pedagogue from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), analyzed extreme violence recorded in the country and identified that the majority of aggressors were aged under 18 when they committed the attacks. \u201cThis shows how vulnerable people in this age group are to becoming involved in extreme violence,\u201d she points out. According to Vinha, most attackers had few friends and many were part of online hate communities. \u201cUp until November 2024, all perpetrators of these attacks in Brazil had been male. In December of that year, the first case involving a young woman was recorded,\u201d she reports. Some of the aggressors also showed signs of mental illness\u2014sometimes undiagnosed or untreated\u2014and all had suffered negative experiences at school, such as humiliation, exclusion, and bullying. She recalls a post made by one attacker on a social network, in which the young man said that he enjoyed school until he started to suffer systematic bullying from his classmates. \u201cThe boy wrote that he had no one to help him and that he intended to carry out the attack as a way to make everyone aware of his suffering,\u201d explains the researcher.<\/p>\n

From 2015 to 2018, Vinha led a study at 10 public schools in Campinas and Paul\u00ednia, both in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, which included conflict management training for teachers, as well as measures and analyses of their impacts on relationships within the schools. \u201cAlthough the results were positive in the short term, all progress was lost a year and a half later because the initiatives were not formally adopted and many teachers changed schools,\u201d she explains. It is therefore important, she emphasizes, for programs to be implemented on a large scale and to promote sustainable, long-term transformations.<\/p>\n

Tha\u00eds Luz, the MEC\u2019s general coordinator for monitoring and tackling violence in schools, believes episodes of extreme violence are part of a broader rise in extremism in Brazil and a lack of control over hate speech and discrimination, which are disseminated through digital media. \u201cThe occurrence of violent attacks in schools has increased significantly since 2019, coinciding with a time when extremist communities, previously restricted to the deep web, have begun to operate openly on social media,\u201d he states. Cara, from USP, explains that online forums that promote hate speech groom teenagers through virtual interactions and strategies that combine humor and violent language.<\/p>\n

\"\"Valentina Fraiz<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to the rise in school violence, the federal government established the National System for Monitoring and Tackling Violence in Schools through Decree No. 12,006 of April 2024. The system offers guidelines for prevention and action in cases of extreme violence. Last December, the MEC launched the Escola que Protege (schools that protect) program to strengthen educational institutions\u2019 ability to prevent and respond to violence. \u201cThe program provides ongoing training to educators, creates spaces for democratic coexistence, combats bullying and discrimination, and develops monitoring and communication strategies,\u201d Cara says. The initiative links the MEC with bodies such as the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, and the Federal Police.<\/p>\n

Psychologist Ant\u00f4nio \u00c1lvaro Soares Zuin of the Federal University of S\u00e3o Carlos (UFSCar), who has been studying the relationship between violence, technology, and education for over a decade, also warns about the impact of the internet on the school environment. He explains that when someone is bullied, the violence is physical and psychological, with the victim being a constant target of aggression. But when it comes to cyberbullying, a single post can remain online indefinitely. \u201cEven if it is removed by court order, it can later be reposted,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Zuin studied more than 100 schools in Brazil and abroad, finding that students often film and share videos of teachers without their consent, frequently accompanied by derogatory comments. This practice, which began with communities on the social network Orkut in the 2000s, was exacerbated by the popularization of smartphones from 2007 onwards and then by the migration to social networks with even greater reach. In the past, he says, cyberbullying posts were restricted to forums and closed groups, but with the spread of smartphones, offensive videos recorded at school began to be shared openly, with some reaching thousands of views. According to the researcher, this practice is often used as a form of revenge against teachers who have disciplined students. \u201cAmid so many opportunities for distraction, which is typical of digital culture, students use their cell phones to take revenge by cyberbullying their teachers, the very figures responsible for ensuring their attention remains focused on their studies,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Law No. 14,811 of 2024 establishes bullying and cyberbullying as crimes within a new legal category, expanding the scope of situations that can be classified as such and defining criteria for what may be considered systematic intimidation. However, jurist Lucas Catib de Laurentiis of the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas points out that it is natural for young people to sometimes be uncivil and to challenge norms and authorities as they develop their personalities\u2014as long as this does not involve crimes such as racism and homophobia. \u201cWith this new law, a simple discussion between students can result in criminal proceedings, creating an environment of fear and self-censorship. We need to combat violence, but we also need to differentiate between behavior that should be prosecuted and behavior that should not, to preserve a climate that enables the construction of each student’s identity,” concludes the jurist, who is carrying out research funded by FAPESP on the prevention of violence and attacks in schools in the city of Campinas.<\/p>\n

The story above was published with the title “Hostile environment<\/strong>” in issue in issue 350 of april\/2025.<\/p>\n

Projects<\/strong>
\n1.<\/strong> Science Center for the Development of Basic Education:<\/em> Lessons Learned and School Coexistence<\/em> (n\u00ba 24\/01116-7<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Science Centers for Development; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Marilene Proen\u00e7a Rebello de Souza (USP); Investment<\/strong> R$874,049.92.
\n2.<\/strong> Project Aegis:<\/em> Violence, education, and surveillance in schools in the municipality of Campinas<\/em> (n\u00ba 23\/10005-1<\/a>) Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Research in Public Policies; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Lucas Catib de Laurentiis (PUC-Campinas); Investment<\/strong> R$295,797.63.<\/p>\n

Reports<\/strong>
\nBACCHETTO, J. G. Construindo um indicador sobre ocorr\u00eancia de viol\u00eancia nas escolas no Saeb<\/a>. Bras\u00edlia: Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais An\u00edsio Teixeira; 2024.
\nCARA, D.\u00a0Ataques \u00e0s escolas no Brasil: An\u00e1lise do fen\u00f4meno e recomenda\u00e7\u00f5es para a a\u00e7\u00e3o governamental<\/a>. Bras\u00edlia: Grupo de Trabalho de Especialistas em Viol\u00eancia nas Escolas \u2013 MEC. 2023.
\nCERQUEIRA, D. & BUENO, S.\u00a0Atlas da viol\u00eancia 2,024<\/a>. Bras\u00edlia: IPEA, FBSP. 2024.
\nRaio x de 20 anos de ataques \u00e0s escolas no Brasil 2002-2023<\/a>. Instituto Sou da Paz. 2023.
\nViol\u00eancia e preconceitos na escola: Contribui\u00e7\u00f5es da psicologia. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) e F\u00f3rum de Entidades Nacionais da Psicologia Brasileira (eds.)<\/a>. Bras\u00edlia: Conselho Federal de Psicologia, 2018.<\/p>\n

Book<\/strong>
\nVINHA, T.\u00a0Ataques de viol\u00eancia extrema em escolas no Brasil: Causas e caminhos<\/a>. S\u00e3o Paulo: D3e, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emotional distress and increased access to firearms lead to extreme attacks at educational institutions","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":566488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,165],"tags":[226,256],"coauthors":[1600],"class_list":["post-566487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover","category-humanities","tag-education","tag-public-policies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566487"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":569424,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566487\/revisions\/569424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566487"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=566487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}