There's no such thing as innocent bullying, and kids aren't afraid to get revenge.
Problems
Security / fights
School entertainment?
When I surveyed students, I found that a student will see on average 3 fights by their junior year.
Fights are pretty hard to forget, and it's a shame that students can look back and say “I remember that fight with so and so.” The common reason why these fights occur usually entails a boy or girl, or “stupid stuff.”
That's exactly what it is, “stupid stuff.” However, it's this stupid stuff that students get so excited about. Witnessing a fight is almost like a regular drill that students experience throughout the year. You hear some verbal confrontation, and then you notice the crowd forming around the scene. It's so crazy how this works.
The crowd of students isn't there to break the fight. They are there to watch it; and of course, you will always get that one student in the crowd that encourages it.
It will cross that line
Fights are pretty common, and they generally always break up without serious injury. However, don't take that as comfort because it's only a matter of time until a school sees a break in that limit.
Take for instance a fight that occurred between two boys at a high school. The fight was so severe that the victim was airlifted to University of Michigan Hospital. According to the Livonia Observer, the victim suffered head, neck, and vertebrae injury!
During my years of high school, I witnessed fights where a boy broke his nose, girls pulled their hair apart, and students threw desks across the room. After all of these incidents and the ones that continue to occur, I still hold this question:
When will we learn?
Stop assuming the best. Start assuming the worst.
The security in schools is not at the level where it needs to be because people still assume the worst can never happen. It is this thinking that is hurting people. Having security in schools isn’t just about protecting dangerous outsiders from entering the building. It's also about protecting students from other students.
School fights are not like the innocent ones you remember “back in the day,” if you will. Today, kids are not afraid to get strong revenge.
Maybe a kid wants revenge on that bully for causing so much misery. Maybe a kid wants that drug bad enough to cause violence. Maybe that kid started a fight because they were high on drugs. The possibilities are open. Are your eyes open?
What is it going to take to get your attention for change? Are you going to wait until a student brings in a weapon? Until someone gets killed?
