Teens caught up in vicious school fight clubs craze

Schools in Melbourne’s southeast are embroiled in an escalating fight club craze, with disturbing footage showing students being thrown to the ground, kicked and stomped on.

Students across Melbourne’s southeast are caught up in an escalating fight club craze, with police concerned about the increasingly violent nature of brawls.

The Herald Sun can reveal that more than 130 brutal fights involving kids from both state and private schools have been posted on one shocking Instagram page which celebrates vicious brawls, including more than 30 just in the past week.

The page, focusing on Frankston and the southeastern suburbs, includes footage of head-stomping, children being repeatedly punched by several attackers while on the ground and references to machetes.

Students from more than 10 schools including Frankston High School and St Francis Xavier College in Beaconsfield, are involved, with the page boasting more than 2000 followers.

Police in the area have raised “serious concerns” that fight clubs are becoming increasingly “violent” and growing in popularity.

Two girls can be seen punching on in one of the videos. Picture: Supplied

Another video shows a student being thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked. Picture: Supplied

Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg has blamed an increasing “lack of supervision” at schools for contributing to the fight club culture.

One confronting video on the page shows an altercation between two teenage girls at a school locker bay, with one grabbing the other’s hair and slamming her to the ground, as shocked classmates observe.

In another, a group of six teens – some in school uniform – push a boy to the ground, kicking him several times at a shopping centre.

Another features a revenge attack by a group of teenagers after they had previously been set upon.

“You all had a machete when you chased me at school 15 v 1. Chased you 4 v 15 and we only had our fists,” the video’s caption says.

A shocking video also shows a boy falling to the ground and having his head repeatedly stomped on after being set upon by a group of thugs.

Schoolchildren are also posting post-brawl images of their bloodied and bruised faces and bodies

Last week, one student at Alkira Secondary College in Cranbourne North, needed urgent medical care after a brutal fight between two students which resulted in one being thrown to the ground.

That fight was not posted on the page, but the Education Department told the Herald Sun: “Incidents of bullying and violence in schools will not be tolerated … and the school continues to take appropriate action in response to this incident.”

Neither the school, nor the department, have detailed what action has been taken.

Police have raised concerns over the increasingly brutal fights. Picture: Supplied

A psychologist has warned kids are ‘growing up with a diet of violence as entertainment’. Picture: Supplied

A senior police officer operating in Melbourne’s southeast said fight club social media pages were becoming more “graphic” and had pleaded for young teens to stop.

“It’s very concerning because the footage is becoming more violent and the young victims in these videos are sometimes bloodied and begging for help,” the source said.

“It needs to stop because I fear someone is going to get badly hurt in one of these fights.”

A parent, from Melbourne’s southeast, who asked not to be named, said she reported the “vile” Instagram page, but had been unsuccessful in taking it down.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you report the page, it comes back with a message saying that the content doesn’t go against their guidelines which is just outrageous,” she said.
“I felt sick to my stomach when I saw these videos, it’s just vile.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said: “Schools have a legal obligation to provide students with a safe environment in which they learn, this also includes adequate supervision and monitoring.

“Kids are now growing up with a diet of violence as entertainment.

“Social media companies are disgraceful and this is a prime example of that, these types of videos need to be taken down immediately, but they are not.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said assaults should “absolutely not” be “celebrated or shared for entertainment purposes”.

“If you witnessed an assault or have been a victim of this kind of violence, we strongly encourage you to contact police immediately so the matter can be investigated,” she said.

A Department of Education spokesman said: “We work actively with community organisations and the police to address and prevent any violence or conflict outside school grounds leading to incidents inside schools.”

“All schools have strong policies in place to address any incidents of violence or bullying and where isolated incidents occur, schools take strong responsive action, including disciplinary action where appropriate,” he said.

The latest revelations come just months after a teenager was allegedly stabbed in the neck in front of other students at Reservoir High School. One student was taken to hospital and another was arrested by police.

Fights have also been posted in the past involving students from Melton Secondary College, both at Woodgrove Plaza and on school grounds, as well as Alamanda K-9 in Point Cook.

Students at private schools are not immune to violence being celebrated on social media either, with a punch-on recorded and circulated in 2022 featuring two teens at a weekend sporting match between Melbourne Grammar and Haileybury.