Centocelle’s decline: a boy’s attack reveals lost community

In Rome’s Centocelle neighborhood, a thirteen-year-old boy attacked his teacher with a knife and pepper spray, then shared the act online, prompting a local resident to reflect on the neighborhood’s changed social landscape.

The man, who also attended school at Giovanni Verga middle school, revisited places from his youth, piazza Teofrasto, via dei Castani, and via dei Ciclamini, and found them largely devoid of the youthful activity he remembered.

Investigators are working to identify five online “friends” the boy claimed to have, to understand if they played a role in the attack. The author contrasted the vibrant social life of Centocelle in the 1970s, with active political groups, churches, sports clubs, and public spaces, to the current state, where many of those gathering places have disappeared.

He noted the neighborhood once had a strong political presence, even harboring members of the Red Brigades and First Line terrorist groups, but also provided ample opportunities for young people to connect positively. Today, he observed, the local parish had closed, the Don Bosco youth center was nearly empty, and Piazza dei Gerani, once a popular meeting spot, was deserted. Emiliano Orlandi, a local council member and friend of the author, pointed to a generational failure.

He noted that he is the only one of his childhood friend group still involved in volunteer work and politics. Orlandi believes that politics has become focused on personal advancement rather than community needs, leaving young people with fewer positive outlets. The author concludes that the boy found companionship online because physical spaces for connection have diminished, and asks whether the community can rebuild a place where young people can find support before it’s too late.