Videos spark playground punch-ups as schools tackle fight club culture
The escalation of an underground ‘fight culture’ in the state’s schools has alarmed authorities with dozens of videos showing violent punch-ups hitting social media. Here are some of the chilling clips that were shared. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
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A startling trend for filming schoolyard brawls and publishing footage on social media sparked an underground “fight club culture” in 2022, with some of the state’s largest high schools moving to choke the practice with harsh penalties.
Police registered more than 10 videos of savage playground punch-ups over the year in Queensland, with parents from some schools issued with letters in October warning of the violence.
Videos of state school students from the Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Logan, Ipswich, Bundaberg, Mackay and Kingaroy went viral on social media.
Many of the fights which ended up on video were shared on dedicated fight club social media accounts.
Hundreds of thousands of viewers were watching on TikTok and Instagram, ultimately giving student photographers notoriety and promoting the violence.
Girls scratching and punching each other, students being pushed down concrete steps, larger boys going a round of fisticuffs with smaller boys, crowds watching as two girls wrestle on a school oval, teachers trying to break up fights as punches are thrown at students’ heads.
They were just some of the shocking scenes principals had to explain to stunned parents during 2022.
In an effort to deter students filming fight videos and thwart the underground fight club culture, some schools introduced harsh measures including suspension for those caught videoing brawls.
In some schools, the measures for those videoing fights were harsher than penalties for those involved in the brawls.
Police also said they would continue regular patrols at some schools in 2023 in an effort to curb the playground violence.
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Education Queensland said the department was aware some students used social media to film and share “inappropriate material”.
“Every state school provides detailed information about local school policies on the use of student owned technology at school and use of social media, including possible sanctions when expectations are not met,” she said.
“The department has a dedicated cyber-safety team, which assists schools in responding to and preventing online issues.”
Education Queensland was still finalising disciplinary data for schools in 2022.
But data for the previous five years (2017-2021) showed the outbreak of violence over the past year followed a spike in suspensions and expulsions across the state.
Here are the violent Queensland schoolyard videos which shocked parents and disgusted principals during 2022.
NOVEMBER 15
A violent altercation between two teenagers erupted outside a family medical practice with one threatening to slice the other’s throat.
Footage shared showed a female teenager, alleged to be a former student of Sarina State High School, confronting another female, alleged to be a current student, outside Sarina Family Practice south of Mackay.
“Come here, I need to talk to you dog,” the alleged ex-student is heard saying to the other girl who is accompanied by a male adult.
“So I’ve had a phone call from my cousin saying that you’re picking on her.”
The other teen replies she hasn’t spoken to the referenced person “since the start of the year”, an answer that did not go over well with a tirade of incoming abuse.
“It was straight after I left wasn’t it, ‘cause I texted you?” the alleged ex-student retorts as she clenches her fists.
A Queensland Police Service spokesman said at the time no report was made of the incident.
OCTOBER 31
Brisbane State High School students were caught on camera engaging in a number of distressing acts, with parents calling for tougher punishments as claims that inappropriate behaviour was spiralling out of control.
One video showed a student on a motorbike wielding a flare while riding through a crowd in a public park.
Another alarming video on social media showed a laughing girl with a chain around her neck, being dragged along like a dog by a male peer.
An image of a child from another school shows blood dripping from the boy’s mouth and his teeth dislodged after a brawl allegedly involving a State High pupil.
A parent who wanted to remain anonymous said students were copying what they saw online and there was a culture among boys of “slut shaming” girls if they reported inappropriate behaviour.
OCTOBER 22
Police investigated a series of brutal fights at Sarina State High School in North Queensland after student brawling was caught on camera and distributed online.
A student captured footage of 12 fights during 2022, claiming there were “at least six to seven fights a term”.
The student, who had to remain anonymous, said the school had a zero-tolerance policy for fights.
“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.
“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’.”
OCTOBER 4
Parents of Flagstone State Community College complained to police that the violence had flowed out of the school and into a local park.
Flagstone gained a reputation for its “fight club” culture during the year after videos of students bashing each other on school grounds in school uniform surfaced online in June.
The Logan school denied issuing instructions not to reveal the on-campus violence to parents.
A spokesman for the Education Department said claims that parents were not being kept informed were false.
Some instances of violence on school grounds were caught on film and local police upped patrols around the school.
SEPTEMBER 28
Several pages under different names around the theme “Sunny Coast fights” and “Sunshine Coast fights” revealed an alleged culture of fighting in schools and bus stops.
In the videos, students in their teens were filmed allegedly attacking each other in front of a crowd of onlookers.
The footage was posted from the start of 2022, with the alleged brawls taking place in front of schoolchildren and at the Sunshine Plaza bus stop in Maroochydore.
In one clip from the Sunshine Plaza bus stop, a teen can be seen allegedly being accosted by two other boys only metres from a parked bus, with the brawl spilling on to the road before the fight ends.
SEPTEMBER 14
Ipswich, west of Brisbane, was not immune to the fight culture, with police called to two schools in September after shocking videos of violent punch-ups and complaints from parents that bullying was out of control.
One video of students in Rosewood State High uniforms showed two teenage boys fighting inside a ring of students in a toilet block.
“Get him,” one boy is heard urging. “Break his teeth,” another chimes in.
Another vicious video showed a boy being dropped to the ground by a Rosewood High student who landed one brutal blow to the boy’s jaw.
The dazed student was not wearing a Rosewood uniform.
Police said they were called to Rosewood at least 10 times to deal with acts of violence.
In another video posted to a fight club Instagram account, a young Ipswich teen from Rosewood pleads with a girl to “please stop”, as she struggles to keep her aggressor away.
The girl is then hit in the face before she bursts into tears to a chorus of laughter.
Parents at Brassall State School, also in Ipswich, took action and urged their school to clampdown on rampant bullying after one parent shared her son’s horror story on a local Facebook page.
In another Ipswich case, a girl was set upon from behind while walking through school grounds. She tried to walk away but her relentless attacker dragged her around by her bag, forcing a teacher to step in and protect the victim.
JULY 28
An Ipswich primary school offered support to parents after police and paramedics were called to Sacred Heart Primary School, Booval, after an alleged violent incident.
Police said they received reports of an incident involving a knife from the school and principal Chris Thomas sent a statement to parents to say the entire school went into emergency lockdown.
A police spokeswoman confirmed there had been a “dispute” between two students.
Paramedics were at nearby Bremer State High School the next day following an alleged fight breaking out.
Shocking footage was also circulated on social media after a young teen was randomly assaulted at a major Ipswich shopping centre, which has allegedly become so dangerous parents don’t let their teens go there unsupervised.
JUNE 3
Videos from Flagstone State Community College started emerging with the school’s “fight club” culture making headlines. The first clips depicting students bashing each other on school grounds in school uniform were shared online in June.
More videos surfaced exposing the violence and teacher-bashing culture at the school in July.
Local police stepped up patrols around Flagstone Community College following a fight allegedly involving up to 30 students on June 1, 2022, during school pick-up.
Principal Julie Strong sent a letter to parents and guardians.
“As a school community our priority is on the creation of a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment,” Ms Strong said.
She said Education Queensland was aware of an incident at the school after school hours.
At least five children in Year 9 were expelled and at least one teacher physically and verbally assaulted, a parent said of the brawl.
MARCH 30
Redcliffe State High school students kicked off the year of violence in March when disturbing footage of students fighting at a shopping centre emerged online.
The video of three Redcliffe State High School students involved in a physical fight showed one girl being stuck multiple times in the head.
The video shows several Redcliffe State High School students at a supermarket, when one of three female students attacks another.
The girl can be seen striking the other student multiple times before pushing her to the ground and repeatedly striking her in the head while a third female student watches.
An adult then appears and breaks up the fight.
The ugly incident occurred on March 23, outside school hours, at a local shopping centre.
MARCH 15
Shocking footage emerged of a teenage girl being attacked in the school grounds at Bundaberg State High School.
In the video, circulated on social media, the victim appears to be a teenage girl and shows two girls talking before one lashes out, punching the other girl and attacking her, before pushing her on to concrete stairs.
A spokesman for Queensland’s Department of Education said at the time the school was taking action in the wake of the video.
If you’re a young person suffering from bullying or this video has affected you in any way, call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
If you’re an adult and this video has raised issues for you, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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