Videos of student fights at southern Adelaide high school spark concerns

Wild footage of students fighting at a school in Adelaide’s south has been circulating on social media, prompting serious concerns over its culture.

Shocking videos have emerged of student brawls at a public school in Adelaide’s south, with a former member of its governing council voicing concerns about the culture there.

The Advertiser has seen videos of two separate incidents involving students fighting at Aldinga Payinthi College in recent months.

In one video, a boy is sitting on top of another student, using his arm to press down on the other boy’s neck on what appears to be the school oval.

The boy then punches the student under him in the head and pins his hand down as the victim tries to shield himself from the attack.

A large group of students gather around to watch the fight and egg them on. A voice can be heard repeatedly saying “you gotta f**cking stop now”.

Students fighting at Aldinga Payinthi College.

During the brawls at Aldinga Payinthi College other students can be heard egging them on.

In another video, two students, believed to be in Year 7/8, can be seen grappling with each other inside a school building.

The former governing councillor told The Advertiser the fight was allegedly sparked by one student making racist comments.

He said the videos were being circulated via instant messaging app Snapchat, as well as text messages and were both filmed in recent months.

The former councillor, who spoke to The Advertiser on the condition of anonymity, said the students involved in the fight inside the school building were both given a 10-minute detention in response to the incident while the students involved in the fight on what appears to be the oval were suspended.

Furthermore, he said that the parents of a student in the second video learned about the incident from their son – but the school did not inform the parents until a week later.

Aldinga Payinthi College.

He described the school’s response as “very poor” and “inadequate”.

“I think it’s not sending the right message to the students about violence not being OK,” he said.

“They’re not taking it seriously, downplaying it.”

The ex-councillor told The Advertiser that students say similar incidents happen almost daily.

“I’d like [the Education Department] to come in and intervene with [the school’s] lack of a behaviour management policy,” he said.

“It’s just overall quite disappointing that the school, a relatively new school, very well funded by the department, and has a lot of staff and yet still seems to be failing to even pick up on these instances as they’re happening.

“[There’s] quite a delay in notifying parents and things like that when they’ve got so many resources available to them.”

The school is one of the state’s newest, opening to students in early 2022.

An Education Department spokesperson said the school was aware of both the fight videos and that action had been taken.

“The matter on the school oval occurred in March, with both students suspended as a result,” they said.

“The matter was reported to both families, and the police.

“In relation to the second incident, the school leadership is aware of this and both families were advised. Given the nature of the incident, and ongoing issues between the students, a restorative meeting was held.

“Violent behaviour from any student is completely unacceptable, and there are consequences for anyone involved in bullying or violence.”

The fights were filmed on phones, despite the school having an “off and away” mobile policy in place since it opened in 2022.

“Additionally, the Department for Education will assist the school with the installation of storage for mobile phones,” the spokesperson said.

“The department has been working with the school and will provide onsite behaviour supports, as well as having the Education Director onsite to support leadership, students and families.”

The incidents have been shared with The Advertiser on the heels of a bashing at another school, where a 13-year-old boy at Nuriootpa High School was shoved to the ground and suffered his head being stomped on.