The psychic suffering of adolescent girls at school often takes the form of verbal aggression, for the most part trivialized by young people while decried by professionals. Using a study carried out with school principals, this paper explores the defensive function of this trivialization as a way of putting the force of drives at a distance, of expressing narcissistic preoccupations, and of dealing psychically with the intrusion of puberty and the question of identity. Mediation workshops are presented as an opportunity to treat these issues in a different way, a way that is more open to oneself and to others.

Adolescence, T. 31 n°1, pp. 95-106.