School year starts with several fights
One of the large fights gets shared on the news. Fights have become more common on campus and administration is doing all they can to shut them down.
September 3, 2021
The return of in-person learning brought the return of student fights. With almost 4,000 kids enrolled, it is no surprise that there are disagreements every once in a while, some of which turn physical. However, recently it has not been just the occasional fight. It seems that there are multiple fights a week, larger and more violent than usual.
I have not seen any fights in person this year, but I have seen videos of almost all of them. Right when students catch a glimpse of a brawl, they pull out their phones and start to record. By the end of the day, the talk of the fights spread throughout the school, along with the videos from every angle imaginable.
These fights occur anywhere in the school, from the student centers to the tennis courts. Teachers, police officers, and even other students have jumped in to break up these fights. The administration tries to prevent them for obvious reasons. However, students not involved in the fights enjoy watching them. Part of the issue is the vast crowds that gather around these altercations. They block the hallways and disrupt classrooms. They also hinder school resource officers and administrators from getting to the fight. Nevertheless, fights are a source of entertainment, so the videos are so sought after among the student body.
The administration attempts to punish those who videotape these fights. They do not want any of these videos to get out and give the school a bad reputation. In 2018, a large fight in the cafeteria made the WTHR news because of its size and the videos posted on social media.
This is the kind of news the administration does not want for the school. The recordings make it a lot easier for people not involved to hear about and see what is going on.
I understand that administrators don’t want students to record, but they should not regulate what they do and do not document. I also know that they do not want students to fight on school grounds. This is extremely reasonable, but it is tough to enforce. Sometimes the threat of suspension or even expulsion is not enough to stop kids from hitting one another.
No matter the policy on fighting, I do not see a possible end to them. There are always places kids can meet and fight, and they will take advantage of these whenever they can if the issue is deep enough.
