Grafton school fights posted on YouTube | Northern Rivers News | Local News in Northern Rivers

9th September 2008

VIOLENT Grafton school students are posting their school yard brawls on a popular internet website, which can be accessed by millions of people worldwide.

The footage, on video sharing website YouTube, shows teenagers dressed in Grafton and South Grafton high school uniforms picking fights for the camera.

In one clip, posted only three days ago, a girl attacks another outside what appears to be South Grafton High School.

The attacker holds the girl by her throat, pulls her hair and hits her repeatedly before an adult intervenes. In another video, posted in March this year, students wearing Grafton High School uniforms wait for their victim, before picking a fight inside the grounds of Grafton's TAFE.

The longest video, published in December last year, shows five different fights edited together and set to pumping music. Most of the students are wearing Grafton High School uniforms. On one occasion, a boy is thrown down on cement, while a group of children look on.

Some website users who have viewed the clips applauded the violence, leaving comments such as 'good on ya boys keep it up go hard'. Another said the videos were 'shared around' via phone messages for days after the fights occurred.

At Grafton Skate Park yesterday, a group of teenage boys agreed it was considered 'pretty cool' to film fights and share them via picture text messages.

"If someone's getting bashed, you get your phone out for sure," one said.

"It happens all the time."

A Department of Education and Training spokesman said while the principals of both Grafton and South Grafton high schools were aware of the problem, the incidents were infrequent. He said where students could be identified in video footage, they faced disciplinary action.

Just last month at South Grafton High, a female and male student each received 20-day suspensions for fighting and filming the incident respectively.

He said it was made clear to students through assemblies and on an individual level that violence was not acceptable in any form.

Grafton Police Inspector Darren Spooner said people who got into brawls, those who filmed them and those who encouraged the fights could face criminal charges.

"The footage can be used as evidence by police," he said.

Federation of Parents and Citizen's Associations of New South Wales publicity officer Sharon Johnson said violence was increasingly being seen as the norm by young people.

"It's alarming, but sometimes it can be hard to combat," she said.

"Given the questionable actions of some public figures, it can be confusing for young people as to what is and isn't acceptable."

Clarence MP Steve Cansdell viewed the video footage yesterday and said it was sad to see children inciting and promoting violence.

"To think this kind of behaviour is cool shows total disrespect for the law and society."

Mr Cansdell said stronger discipline from both schools and parents was needed to help combat the problem.

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