New Delhi: Teenagers tend to succumb to violence as they are at a crucial point in life when they are coming to terms with their own hormonal changes, increased study load as well as peer pressure, say counsellors after two teenagers shot dead their classmate in an upscale Gurgaon school on Tuesday.

The real issue is not about teenage violence, but about the social structure within which teenagers are fast losing the capacity to cope with stress and frustration.

"Violence is a symptom of the issue, not the issue," said, Reena Sehgal, counsellor of the capital's Bal Bharti School.

"Teenagers are at a point in life when they're coming to terms with hormonal changes, their first heterosexual relationships, studies and peer pressure. They need assistance to cope with life. Yet we have no support systems in place," said Sehgal.

A Class 8 student of Euro International School in Gurgaon's Sector 45, close to the national capital, was allegedly shot dead by two classmates over a personal dispute on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Geetanjali Kumar, counsellor at Hansraj Model School, it is necessary to inculcate "positive life skills" in children like avoiding violent TV programmes and video games.

"I have come across cases of anger very often among students. The anger is such that they can do anything like banging their head on the wall, tearing their clothes and such activities," said Kumar.

Teenage violence isn't evident only in the ultimate physical act of killing. It manifests itself in forms that ravage the mind though leaving the body unharmed, said K.K. Aggarwal, a visiting counsellor at a government school. IANS