Fighting in Schools “Wow, did you hear about that fight last hour? It was awesome!” “Hey, there’s going to be a fight at the old barnyard after school today, you want to go and watch it with me?” Although Valparaiso High School doesn’t have to deal with fighting at school too often, it’s not uncommon to walk into a classroom and hear your classmates discussing the latest fight gossip and outcomes. It’s no secret that there are a lot of students who attend VHS, so there’s bound to be discrepancies, but what is the problem that actually starts the fighting? “I believe most fights occur because students listen, and react to rumors, and 99 percent of all rumors are false,” says assistant principal George Gordon. “Any time two students are squared off, each one gets defensive and the crowd senses that a fight is going to happen and then the crowd encourages them to fight.” Spreading rumors has been the cause of many fights in school, and the end of a lot of friendships. I don’t understand why some people tend to believe the rumors they hear, but it doesn’t take a lot of common sense to say, ‘hey, I know my friend wouldn’t say something like that about me.’ But even if you have doubts, you can always confront your friend about the rumor in a non-accusing way. “To avoid a fight, if people want to question other students about rumors, they should come to the office and do so with an administrator,” says Gordon. The VHS administration does attempt to prevent fights by making students aware of the rules and consequences, and by making announcements, but some students choose to fight anyway. When a fight occurs, each case is judged on an individual basis. Facts are determined on how severe the fight is, how much trouble those in the fight have previously been in, and if there is any physical contact. Punishment may be different for each person. Even so, the least punishment a person can receive is a Saturday Class. A lot of students don’t realize that they are still under school rules from the time they leave their house in the morning, until they return home later in the afternoon, and they try to pursue fights off school grounds. These actions may even include notifying the police. The consequences of fighting are harsh and can effect a person even in the future if it goes on his or her permanent record. If a person is fighting in the halls, don’t encourage him or her to fight. If you want to see a good fight, go to a wrestling meet.