Why do fights happen in high school?

By Xiomara A.

Several fights have broken out at Diego Rivera during the school year. So how has this affected students, teachers, and administrators? And what is causing these fights?

Teachers and staff from CATS have shared that some of the main things that can cause a fight are miscommunication and social media.

Ms. Dorantes, the Spanish teacher, said, “I think miscommunication is one thing that causes a lot of fights.” Most of the time students get into fights over a misunderstanding and may not know how to express their feelings, she said.

Social media is also a problem.

Mr. Antonio Roque, the principal assistant, said, “Social media sometimes becomes a physical confrontation here on campus. The other thing I’ve also been noticing, whether it’s through social media, or,  in person here on campus, is rumors.”

He explained that many times rumors can be the root of a lot of these conflicts.

Sometimes somebody will go and say something to that person that they heard, and then the other one believes it, and that is how a fight can start. 

But it’s also students who are not part of the fights that can contribute to it.

For example, according to CATS’ social worker Ms. Perez, freshmen see these fights as something entertaining rather than something serious.

She said, “Freshmen are the ones who run and post [online about the fights]. I think that they are understanding that they are causing and adding to the violence by posting it and talking about it and like hyping it up, or adding drama to it.”

This not only can affect the student population in general but also can impact students involved in the fights, not just in the short-term but later in life.

Ms. Dorantes said, “A lot of students don’t know how to balance outside problems in school.”

She explained that many times these students are tempted to focus more on their social media life. She said, “So they don’t know how to differentiate between those two things. But it also causes tension, like they start not liking school, so they stop coming, just because of social issues. They also don’t know how to communicate with people, which in the long run can just not affect only them in workplaces, but also anywhere in life.”

For some of the students involved, Mr. Roque said, “sometimes they don’t feel safe being here on campus.”

And there can be consequences that students don’t expect.

“The things that happen with fights is that they go into the student’s record, and it can affect them later when they’re applying for certain things because they are part of the student record,” he said. “It may also affect their relationships with each other students or their relationships with teachers. It may also affect their ability to participate in sports or extracurricular activities.”  

So what are some solutions?

“We need more parent involvement with the parents here,” Ms. Perez said. “Parents are tempted to think that just because their kids are in high school now they don’t need the attention just because they are a little bit older, but it’s wrong because this is where teenagers are making a lot of choices that parents need to be more part of.” She continued saying, “This is a time where it’s tough for teenagers, and yet, there are so many decisions that teenagers are making that are not always good.”