HOUSTON – The Houston Independent School District is investigating whether students are fighting at a middle school and then posting the videos on the Internet. A district spokesperson says it would not be the first time that students at Dowling Middle School fought and uploaded the action to the popular website YouTube.com .
Stephanie Morgan’s twin sixth graders are not in the fight videos, but she can imagine that they could be. Morgan says her son and daughter often wind up in fights in front of classmates like the one she described for us.
“When they (classmates) saw my daughter was getting the best of a young lady, a boy grabbed her by her head and slammed her on the floor. It’s embarassing,” said Morgan.
Morgan also said her children are trying to fit into a school that is more like a battlefield. She is concerned the YouTube videos are encouraging her children to fight.. A search on the popular video sharing website turns up several fight videos claiming to have taken place on the Dowling Middle School campus. They have attracted more than a thousand views and show both boys and girls trading words and punches.
“We’re not positioning our children for college. We’re positioning them for SPN numbers (in prison),” said Morgan.
HISD is trying to determine when the videos were shot and who the students are. The district has a zero tolerance policy for fighting on campus. If the students are identified, they could be suspended for three days.
Houston psychiatrist Ivan Spector says posting fights online reinforces bad behavior.
“It’s much easier to go pick a fight with someone and film it than work out for three years and end up on the varsity football or basketball team. This is easy notoriety. You become a star,” said Spector.
Morgan hopes the children’s 20 seconds of fame will end soon.
“Everyone at that school has a greater responsibility to the community and parents to keep them informed and deal with the children posting this stuff on YouTube,” said community activist Quannel X.
