Video of School Fights Raise Serious Issues

Conducting a search for videos about Pinole turns up all kinds of images, including people singing, dancing — and sometimes students fighting at school.

A casual search on YouTube reveals some disturbing images of school fights, ranging from a few kids to large crowds watching. Students are seen in different degrees of tussling, slapping, hitting with closed fists, kicking and pulling hair.

Of course, schoolyard fights are as old as schools themselves. Yet only recently has recording the violence become so easy, with the wide availability of portable video-capable devices like phones. It's also quick and simple for videos to be posted on sites like YouTube.

Our recent casual search for Pinole-related videos discovered fights among what are described in the videos as Pinole high school and Pinole middle school students. In the attached video, it's uncertain how long the fight lasted between two girls, but a couple of boys intervene less than a minute into the video. Some students can be heard encouraging the fight while others say it should stop.

After looking at this and some other more dated fight videos, several questions arise:

• Does the presence of video cameras discourage or encourage students to back away from or to instigate a fight?
• How aware are school officials and parents that this is taking place?
• Does posting fight videos on sites like YouTube encourage more incidents?
• To what extent might bullying be a factor in school fights?
• How long do these fights typically last before school security or other students become aware of them and takes action to stop them?
• Should fighting videos posted on public web sites be used to punish or prosecute students?
• Is it wrong for Pinole Patch to post this video?

Please share your comments or questions below.