This is quite heartbreaking. I want to believe things are getting better, the next generation won't be as awful, but when you see things like this you realise we are so far away from ever eradicating this from society. I just don't get how kids can still be so broken on this issue.
It's generally about mob mentality and lashing out. The threshold for using profanity of all kinds get really low with social media, especially for young people. Adults above the age of 25 process information through the prefrontal cortex , the part of our brain that processes rationale. It makes us able to respond to stimulation with calm and a feeling of long term consequence. For example: This is why I don't tell a especially difficult customer what I
really think.
Teenagers primarily process emotion through the amygdala, the part of our brain that processes emotion. Teenagers don't yet have a fully developed interaction between the emotional and decision making part of the brain, which is why they are so prone to irrationally lashing out.
I don't think the kids in question are broken, but they've probably not received good
nurture in their surrounding on the societal issues, which is why the threshold for actually using langauge like that seems so low. Mimmicking behavior is one of several factors that define the person we grow up to become, which is why having a good rolemodel is so important. It doesnt take more than to have one good friend you perceive as cool to use profanity for you to mimmick it in a irrational setting, such as this group chat. Its thoughtless behavior that a adult man would inherently
know is wrong and stop himself. Well, the majority anyway.
The good thing though, is that the same way me, and most other adults can look back at our teenage years and say
I can't believe I used to be like that - Because we grew up. Biologically and emotionally. With the right nurture, most anyone can become good people.
There should of course be consequences for what they did, it is racism and it is as deplorable as it can get, but they're also teenagers who will change into more mature human beings with the ability to reflect on their choices, words and interacitons.
Personally I don't believe in punishment in the form of bans and exclusion when it comes to young men and women, because that punishment could be detrimental and put them on a worse path.
Have them apologize to their teammates during a group session, enroll them in a local community volounteer program for 6 months to a year and ban them from a number of games, while allowing them to train and keep the social windfall. Forgiveness is a crucial component in a society that allows people to make mistakes and become better human beings, friends and neighbours. Reach a hand and let them take it.