Sarina State High School violence, fighting exposed in videos

Police have responded after disturbing videos emerged of a series of violent brawls at a North Queensland high school. VIDEO.

Police have confirmed they are investigating after a series of brutal fights at a North Queensland high school were caught on camera and distributed online.

It comes after a student at Sarina State High School told News.com.au he’d captured footage of 12 fights in the past year alone.

“There are at least six to seven fights a term, and these are just the ones that have been recorded,” he said.

“Fights at school are such a common occurrence that there will be flocks of students surrounding the incident.”

A Queensland Police Service spokesman told the Daily Mercury on Friday officers “were also aware of the fights and were accordingly working with the school to investigate and identify those involved”.

A student at Sarina State High School in Queensland has spoken out about the violence plaguing their schoolyard.

He said the QPS took all incidents of violence seriously and urged members of the public with information to phone police.

The student also told News.com.au the school’s zero-tolerance approach was largely ineffective and resulted in suspensions that did not address the root cause of the violence.

“The teachers and staff just nudge it off, and when some students who get punched, kicked and beaten and defend themselves, they get the same punishment as the person who started the fight,” he explained.

“The school has a zero-tolerance policy for fights which means this happens every time, and it’s turned into this mindset of: ‘if I’m also getting suspended, then I might as well fight hard.’

“They might as well put a boxing ring in the school so there will be less blood – it’s that bad.”

A student at Sarina State High School in Queensland has spoken out about the violence plaguing their schoolyard.

The footage shows students crowding around and at times, cheering and egging on, fights involving both female and male peers.

The student said he was worried violence could escalate if nothing was done.

“There have even been rumours that one person will bring a knife or brass knuckles to a fight to cause the most damage to the other student,” he said

A student at Sarina State High School in Queensland has spoken out about the violence plaguing their schoolyard.

Violence at Mackay high schools is nothing new with videos also surfacing in 2021 involving pupils from Mackay North, Sarina, Mackay, and Northern Beaches State High Schools.

In its response to the Queensland Department of Education, a spokesperson confirmed Sarina High was aware of fight videos circulating online and detailed what the school was doing to mitigate the violence and bullying.

“Like all Queensland state schools, Sarina State High School is committed to providing a safe, respectful and disciplined learning environment,” the spokesperson said.

A student at Sarina State High School in Queensland has spoken out about the violence plaguing their schoolyard.

“The school has applied consequences for students involved in line with the school’s Student Code of Conduct and also to those students involved in filming the incidents.

“Positive behaviour strategies are addressed regularly within the school community.

The spokesperson said the school participated in awareness exercises to curb violent behaviour and had avenues for students to make anonymous reports.

Sarina State High School, south of Mackay.

“(Sarina State High School) participates annually in the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence, is part of the practical wellbeing program the Resilience Project and uses an anonymous harm reporting tool called STYMIE,” the DOE spokesperson said.

“Sarina State High School continues to work diligently to promote safe and respectful interactions between students and a safe learning environment for everyone in the school community.”