The simple reality of school fights is this; they’re a waste of time.
School fights have risen at Kennedy and schools across America. In fact, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 46% of schools in America have seen an increase in fighting and violence.
The big causes of fights may include rumors and a lack of respect and conversation between peers—social media has also clearly had an impact on the increase in school fights.
Many arguments start on social media and then later turn into physical fights on school grounds, attracting student spectators and staff responders.
When a fight occurs there is often at least one student recording that will eventually be sent throughout social media, bringing this issue full circle to the online platforms on which it often begins. Students feel a need to record any fight that happens; seeing it as free fun and entertainment.
The need to record is so odd and doesn’t make any sense, is it funny or more of a morbid fascination? Most students watching on the sides are cheering or chanting for the fight to start or to keep going as they hold their phones up to record. Students find it fun and exciting to watch a fight because they don’t know what to expect and can’t keep their eyes off of it.
While this is a massive concern for student safety, it’s also concerning for teachers and staff due to their responsibility to break up fights and the risk of being attacked in turn by a violent student. Although teachers are not obligated to get physically involved, it’s difficult for adults to watch someone in danger and not intervene.
Not only do these fights affect the students and teachers involved, but school fights cause disruption to classes, diverting students’ and teachers’ attention and pausing learning.
A majority of students will agree that school fights can simply be solved by talking it out rather than getting physical. While the more sensible option is to talk things out, many students go the more difficult route and bring their arguments into schools with force. These fights show a lack of both discipline and maturity.
Fights have gotten to the point where they are such a common occurrence that they are normalized throughout schools and it’s not uncommon to witness a fight. This can make students scared to come to school because of the fear of getting into a fight or being near one. It is wrong that in schools fights have become the norm.
Students who don’t get into fights often ask themselves what the solution is. Ultimately, the solution has to come from the students who decide to fight. If the consequences they will have to face deter them from fighting or the shame they may feel from their altercations being posted isn’t enough to prove that physical force isn’t the answer, what will?
