Universiti Malaya criminologist Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid said that suppressed anger and frustration, compounded by societal pressures, often underlie violent behaviour.
She pointed to rigid gender roles and toxic masculinity perpetuating in Malaysia as contributing factors, saying that boys are often told to “toughen up” or suppress emotion, creating cycles of emotional repression that can later erupt as aggression.
Haezreena cautioned that toxic masculinity alone doesn’t automatically lead to crime. “But it can make a person less empathetic and have less self-control, and if that persists, it can lead to offending and violence,” she told FMT.
Haezreena also said “institutional silence”, when schools or authorities downplay, deflect, or delay action, fuels the problem.
She said the obsession with academic performance and school reputation often leads administrators and parents to ignore or conceal issues like bullying, drug use, and other antisocial behaviour.
“It is not helpful because we are not addressing the root causes. We are just sweeping it under the rug and suppressing it and just being in denial,” she said.
The stabbing of a 16-year-old schoolgirl by a 14-year-old male pupil at a secondary school in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, marked the second major school-related crime in just over a week.
Four teenagers were arrested and expelled last week for the gang rape of a Form 3 schoolgirl in Melaka; two suspects have been formally charged.
Other tragedies include the deaths of 13-year-old Zara Qairina at a religious boarding school in Sabah in July, and the death of a 10-year-old boy, who died after being found unconscious on school grounds in Negeri Sembilan on Oct 1.
When communities disappear
Psychologist Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan said the prevalence of nuclear families may have contributed to the problem by limiting parental supervision and social guidance.
She said in traditional extended families, there were family members present who could help to correct misbehaviour early by teaching respect and boundaries.
“Today, when a child comes home, the only places they can go to are an empty house and the Internet,” she said. “In the past, you could go to a cousin’s house, an aunt’s, an uncle’s, or a friend’s. That’s when we had a community.”
Anasuya noted that smaller families mean children miss out on generational guidance, peer learning, and opportunities to engage with a wider community, fostering impatience, intolerance, and disengagement.
“We may not have biological extended families close by, but families can create ‘chosen families’….friends, mentors, or community members who act as uncles, aunties, or role models,” said the former associate professor at the University of Cyberjaya.
Teaching responsibility, not fear
Haezreena urged schools to adopt restorative discipline approaches and rejected calls to introduce punitive measures.
She said caning is ineffective and can amount to torture. “You do not teach them anything, you’re just inflicting pain, and you’re legitimising that pain,” she said. “Make them write reflections, apologise directly, and do communal service in school. Show them how their actions hurt someone else.”