Violent school fight clubs emerge in Melbourne’s west

Dozens of “fight club” accounts are egging students on to share ugly brawl footage — and one part of Melbourne has been targeted.

Sickening social media pages are calling on school pupils in Melbourne’s west to upload footage of brawls.

The Herald Sun has uncovered dozens of “fight club” Instagram and TikTok ­accounts which encourage students to “send in fights”, including footage of one-punch attacks in schoolyards.

In one shocking incident, a group of teenage girls are seen targeting another female student, some of them landing punches while others pull the victim’s hair.

Dramatic footage also shows a food-court brawl, with one girl choked and slammed to the ground, with security desperately trying to break up the fight.

Students from schools involved in “fight clubs” include Melton Secondary College, Staughton College and Kurunjang Secondary College.

The Herald Sun has uncovered dozens of ‘fight club’ Instagram and TikTok accounts

Melton Secondary College principal David Reynolds acknowledged the series of brazen incidents in the school’s latest newsletter.

Mr Reynolds said members of the community had raised concerns about posts on private Instagram, TikTok and Facebook accounts referencing the college, its students and staff members in “highly disrespectful” and ­“inflammatory” ways.

“Posting footage of students involved in verbal or physical altercations while at school actively promotes violence and a feeling of threat and intimidation towards all members of our community,” he said.

Mr Reynolds said the college would continue to work with the police to identify and stop the perpetrators of online bullying and the misuse of social media platforms.

The videos have shocked school officials and parents.

Students from schools involved include Melton Secondary College, Staughton College and Kurunjang Secondary College.

Australian Education Union Victorian Branch president Meredith Peace said the union was in regular contact with the education department about health and safety matters.

“All school staff are entitled to a safe workplace and expect DET to provide both a safe working and learning environment for staff and students,” she said.

“Through negotiations for a new school agreement, the AEU is seeking to address matters relating to occupational violence … this includes discussions on the recommendations from the protective schools task force.”

Victoria Police said they were aware of several social media pages that showed videos of fights.

Social media pages encourage students to send videos in.

An education department spokesman said it worked closely with Victoria Police to respond to incidents of violence and support student and community safety.

“Any form of violence or bullying in our schools is completely unacceptable. Schools take strong disciplinary action where appropriate,” the spokesman said.

“It can be the case that conflicts that occur outside schools spill into the school environments across all sectors,” he said.

A Victoria Police spokesman said police were aware of several social media pages that showed videos of fights.

“Any assault that is reported to police will be investigated,” the spokesman said.

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