Always_Ask_Questions,
“Maybe, it is so clear to them that murders relate to drugs”
I’ve seen other studies at a glance that suggest that drugs play a role in a substantial percentage of murders… perhaps up to 50 percent in some areas. And a disproportionate number of drug-related murder victims are young.
“I personally would suggest a more general explanation – teens are sitting in front of the screen (possibly doing computer crimes or aveiros) rather than with other human beings.”
So asking עוד פעם, please explain to me how smartphone screen time distractions played a role in the reduction of murders in the late 1990s, a decade before the first smartphone was released. I’m not sure that your generalization is valid or follows from this study.