In the June 13th issue of their magazine, Newsweek included an alarming article about the rapid increase of violent behavior among teenage girls. In the article, the author shared the following statistic: the number of girls 10 to 17 arrested for aggravated assault has doubled over the last 20 years (from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report).

Scientists are beginning to investigate this upward trend, particularly the increase of girl-on-girl violence. No longer are words the only weapon wielded by an angry teen girl. Now she's coming out swinging.

So where does this violent behavior come from? I can only assume it is driven by anger - a deep and unbridled anger that prompts impetuous action. In studying scripture, one finds that the word "angry" appears for the first time in the story of Cain and Abel. Check it out below:

"And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell." Genesis 4:4b-5 (ESV)

God questions him about his anger and warns him about where it leads: "The LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'"

Like Cain, these young women have not learned the importance of "ruling over" the anger in their life. Cain would go on to slay his brother because of his inability to control his anger, and girls today are falling prey to the same sin snare that entangled their ancestor so many years ago.

Within our churches and community, we may not be seeing rampant displays of physical violence yet. But I would venture a guess that all of us are witnessing emotional acts of violence all the time - girls lashing out at others verbally, spreading rumors online, and the list goes on. And these acts can often leave an even longer-lasting mark than a slap to the face. Therefore, it's imperative that we begin to call our girls to a higher standard with their mouths, their computers, and their fists. (Posted by Merritt)

Talkback Questions:
Have you witnessed any violent behavior among the girls in your community?
Why do you think violence is increasing among teen girls?
What can we do to teach girls about the pitfalls of unbridled anger?