While not common at Champion, recordings of student fights are on the internet, showing that student fights are sometimes treated as something to cheer and record. Many Champion students feel like the fights should be avoided at all costs, and they feel nobody should be recording and posting.
Students at Champion know that there are ways to diffuse the issue before it can get out of hand.
“Well, I think you should [be] more rational about the situation and don’t let the anger get the best of you, because that can just lead to worse things over all,” freshman Jude Garcia said. “So I feel like you should just step back and walk away, even if they’re screaming in your face.”
This line of thinking is common around the school, and students also know that there are always two sides to the story, and it takes two people to fight.
“I would advise them not to rile people up. Don’t get them angry, and if they’re already angry, then back off because you don’t know how they’ll react,” sophomore Emmanuel Valles said. “It can go either way, really just try to calm down and if you’re the person starting the fight, calm down, distance yourself from people for a few minutes, reason with yourself. And if the other person wants to fight, try to talk them out or just keep your distance from them.”
People have heard the advice, but they must apply it to these situations to make the difference.
“I think some would, but if I’m being honest, one voice can’t change other people’s perspectives that easily and, if I’m being honest, a lot of kids, a lot of students they don’t care,” Valles said. “You need to actually listen to them and get into a personal connection with them to actually know how they feel.”
Students also agree that fights should not be recorded. Some understand the seriousness of these incidents and how much they can impact the lives of these people negatively.
“I think the biggest reason [students record fights] would be to show to other people to spread around that this happened, but another reason would be maybe to post it onto the internet, which can be very detrimental to those people’s future careers,” freshman Justin Gines said. “They can be seen as violent and angry, but it was just a little quarrel and it got out of hand.”
Not only can people recording these fights hurt the publicity of those that fight, but it can also influence others to fight.
“It makes everyone want to be more a part of it, it’ll encourage people [to think] ‘Oh I see these people getting into an argument, let’s encourage them to fight so I can record it,” sophomore Ella Shoemaker said. “It’s just a big network of people going ‘Hey, I want to send [the fight] to this. Hey, let’s fight.’”
