He set fire to bicycles, threw bags of water and sand off the roof. Why do teenagers commit bullying

What provokes teenagers to commit hooliganism and how to protect them from committing illegal acts, told the correspondent of the agency “Minsk-Novosti” in the Prosecutor’s office of Minsk.

The photo is illustrative in nature

The problem of committing hooliganism by adolescents remains relevant. Not all children, because of their age, are able to realize the illegal nature of their actions, which often leads to negative consequences. Sometimes banal, in their opinion, prank can turn into criminal prosecution.

“Hooliganism is one of the most common offenses among minors,” says Alesya Gretskaya, senior prosecutor of the department for supervision of the implementation of legislation on minors and youth of the Minsk prosecutor’s office. These are deliberate actions that violate public order, tranquility of citizens and express clear disrespect for society. Less dangerous hooligan actions, for example, associated with abusive harassment of citizens, entail administrative responsibility.

If they involve the use of violence or the threat of its use, such actions will be a crime for which liability is provided for under Article 339 of the Criminal Code. In addition, hooliganism can also be acts related to the destruction or damage to someone else's property.

So, for example, in June 2026, a 14-year-old student of one of the capital's gymnasiums, being on the roof of a high-rise on the street. Eastern, out of hooligan motives, dropped down four bags of water and sand. They hit girls in 2012 and 2014 who were passing by. One of the schoolgirls was injured, and a criminal case was opened against the hooligan.

And in July, the ninth-grader threw out the window of the apartment on the street. A Kakhov empty glass bottle that landed in a Nissan parked below, damaging its body. For his rash actions, the minor also became a defendant in a criminal case.

The punishment for such misconduct can be severe. So, one young resident of the capital in January 2026 out of revenge set fire to the bicycles of neighbors who stood on the ground floor of one of the houses on the street. Nikiforova. It turned out that a few days before the incident, one of the residents expressed dissatisfaction that the teenager standing in the entrance of the moped smells of gasoline, which is why he had to roll the bike out onto the street. He committed the crime while intoxicated.

The court found him guilty of intentional acts grossly violating public order and expressing clear disrespect for society, accompanied by damage to someone else's property, that is, of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 339 of the Criminal Code, and in accordance with paragraph 5 of paragraph 2 of Article 117 of the Criminal Code applied to a minor compulsory measures of an educational nature in the form of placing him for two years in a special educational institution.

- If a child who committed hooliganism has not reached the age of criminal responsibility (14 years), then parents or persons replacing them can be brought to administrative responsibility for failure to fulfill the duties of his upbringing, and individual preventive work will be organized with the minor, Gretskaya continued. Most often, teenagers cross the line of the law, wanting to assert themselves, prove their importance before their peers. To commit illegal acts, he can be pushed by a lack of attention (thus the child decides to attract the interest of others), as well as a lack of understanding of the limits of what is allowed. To avoid trouble, parents should establish a trusting relationship with the child, explain to him what actions are prohibited, and discuss responsibility for them, control the circle of communication of children, provide them with leisure. It is also important to remember that teenagers copy the behavior of adults, so you should avoid aggression in communication.