Officials in a Colorado school district have acknowledged the existence of “fight clubs” that are geared toward attacks on students, with one recent attack leaving a girl with a concussion and potentially forcing her mother to move her to a different school.
The video of the attack on the girl, showing her being punched multiple times, went viral. She was left with a concussion and her mother told KDVR that she may be forced to move her daughter to another school because she’s been upset by the tepid response from district officials.
Ina Robertson said she’s personally seen social media pages affiliated with the so-called fight clubs, which officials in the Englewood School District have now acknowledged after initially saying the attack was an isolated incident.
“There’s one scene where they recorded my daughter’s hair laying on the ground. They recorded it and told my child, ‘Come get your hair. I see you.’ You know it’s terrible behavior. Who would do such a terrible thing like that? Encourage their behavior?” Robertson said.
A parent who chose to remain anonymous told ABC 7 that she’s afraid her child could be the next one assaulted because the child was identified as a target on the social media pages of the fight clubs.
The parent said she’s “petrified to send her back to school.”
"Fight club" videos at Englewood Middle School go viral after a 7th grade girl was attacked. School will have increased security beginning today. Details on #CBS4Mornings pic.twitter.com/gq8zYmOq3W
— Makenzie O'Keefe (@makenziepokeefe) April 9, 2018
Another parent told KDVR that the culture at Englewood Middle School is poor and officials haven’t handled the situation well.
“Kids are picking fights just to be videotaped and posted on social media,” she said.
Her son told her that students who are in the “fight clubs” post videos of themselves attacking other students on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media websites.
Her son was attacked in March after accidentally hitting another student with a water bottle, she added.
“He not only suffered a concussion but bruising of both eyes. He’s suffering from PTSD right now and still having serious problems with headaches,” she said.
District officials initially called the attack seen in the viral video an isolated incident but said in a letter sent to parents over the weekend that they’re now working with the police to investigate the “fight clubs.”
“We have since become aware that videos of fights that have occurred over time at the Englewood Campus are being housed on certain social pages/groups and referred to as a ‘Fight Club’ or ‘Englewood Fights,'” the district stated.
WARNING: VIOLENT CONTENT
“We are working to find the individuals responsible for any pages/groups and plan to hold them accountable.”
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