> I don't think your average teenager doing this kind of thing can raise the defense that their parents and teachers didn't teach them right from wrong. You a

> I don't think your average teenager doing this kind of thing can raise the defense that their parents and teachers didn't teach them right from wrong. You are talking not about the "average teenager" but about the "average teenager doing this kind of thing", yes? One is a very tiny fraction of the other. I think, looking at the tiny fraction, it is way more likely that (lack of) guidance by the parents/teachers/society is to blame than the kid being inherently "bad". Especially since kids with developmental problems, that maybe have trouble developing their own moral compass, can still be raised with proper values, given the right environment. The converse (bad environment+neurotypical kid) however, is very likely to result in bad behaviour. edit I am NOT trying to excuse any of this behaviour btw. Just saying that environment is a huge factor. And speaking from just over a year's experience teaching kids (computer stuff) roughly this age (a bit younger, 8-12 usually), quite a few of them have impressively well-developed moral compasses :) And the ones that are a bit more .. rowdy, I meet most of their parents at the end of the day, and I do notice some "patterns" (it's none of my business of course and I try to not judge, but little things like some make their kids thank me for helping them this afternoon--absolutely unnecessary for me of course, but it's still a signifier for caring about their upbringing and manners, etc)