Victorian teens skip class to take part in sickening fights

Melbourne students are ditching remote learning and logging on to social media fight club pages to organise wild brawls.

Footage of a fight in Dandenong shared on a social media fight club page.

Young schoolchildren are skipping remote learning to take part in vicious fights.

The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal young teens are taking part in sickening daylight brawls, with footage filmed in recent weeks showing them laying punches and throwing chairs at each other outside a cafe on Lonsdale St in Dandenong.

Several “fight club” social media pages have also emerged with teens encouraging others to send in “Melb fights only”, with footage uploaded this week showing a sickening brawl outside a train station in Melbourne’s southeast.

A restaurant owner, who has worked on Lonsdale St for more than five years, said he was angered after witnessing violence unfold between young teens in recent weeks.

Schoolchildren are skipping class to take part in vicious fights.

This fight involved teens throwing chairs at each other.

“I’ve seen them fight, walk past businesses and kick windows,” he said.

“Businesses are really suffering in the area and this just makes it worse,” he said.

Another worker, Ramin, who has worked on Thomas St for more than 10 years, said he had seen two boys fighting last week nearby Harmony Square, which is outside the Greater Dandenong Council building.

“I saw two boys fighting while their friends used their phones to record it. I also saw young boys last week drinking behind the shop,” he said.

“I think kids have nothing to do and don’t have motivation to learn but their parents should know what they’re doing.”

Veteran youth worker Les Twentyman said he had been concerned that anti-social gatherings would escalate between youths in lockdown.

“These spur of the moment encounters can ruin your life, families lives and victim’s lives forever,” Mr Twentyman said.

“The government needs to fund 60 outreach workers for agencies like mine … I would like them to get extra workers because kids are experiencing serious mental health problems because these are unprecedented times.”

Greater Dandenong Councillor Tim Dark said any fighting within the Dandenong business precinct was unacceptable.

“These teens should be in school and these sorts of actions cause issues for local businesses already struggling with the Covid lockdown,” Cr Dark said.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said: “Police in the Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia areas regularly conduct regular, proactive patrols of key community locations including local parks and public spaces such as Harmony Square.”