Discussion became monologue. This was typical, not unusual. For a week I heard people shouting at one another but not listening to each other. Something similar happens, I suspect, to many young students. If they believe that they can't shine academically, athletically or socially, or even fit in, their sense of being disregarded, isolated and unconnected is as painful as a needle jab.
Young people thrive on encouragement and deserved praise.
They cope with constructive criticism, because it proclaims our belief in their worth. Being relentlessly reviled or ignored, though, cuts to the heart. A fair target for sneers, bullying and harassment. Those wounds don't always heal. Some people even go off the deep end.