At least 14 Fresno Unified schools are named in social media accounts associated with school fight videos, ranging from elementary to high school grades, the Fresno Bee found. Most accounts have more than 100 followers.

The accounts are not operated by the school district.

The account names usually include the school’s name and either the word “fight” or “fightpage,” the Bee reported, while featuring the school’s logo or mascot as profile pictures.

Experts told the Bee that social media accounts documenting school fights normalize violence among students and “add to a student’s burden of learning to socialize normally in an already stressful post-Covid environment,” the Bee reported.

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Parents Complain About Videos

According to the Bee, concerned parents have complained to the Fresno Unified school board. The school district would not respond to the Bee’s questions about the fight videos.

“It’s really frustrating because all this stuff is happening, and I don’t feel like the school is doing anything about it,” said Pyle Elementary parent, Jessica Jolliffe. Two Pyle Elementary fifth graders fought in a video posted on Instagram in December.

(This article originally appeared on EdSource at this link.)

About the Authors

Lasherica Thornton covers education in California’s Central Valley for EdSource.