JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Mandarin High School father says he’s concerned after he was shown videos of what appears to be students gathering inside the school’s bathroom to watch a pre-planned fight.
We’ve slightly blurred the videos to keep the teenagers’ identities concealed.
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The video shows two students fighting in a bathroom, surrounded by at least a dozen other students.
Just five or six seconds into the fight, a third student jumps in. A few seconds after that, two more jump in.
By the end of the video, it’s hard to tell which students were the ones originally fighting.
The video ends with the fight being pushed out of the bathroom onto an outside hallway.
The parent who sent us the videos says he wants to stay anonymous to protect his son’s identity.
“My fear is that somebody who’s innocent does get very hurt,” he said. “What if there were three 90-pound girls walking down the hallway?”
In another video taken of the same fight, you can hear the person recording begin counting as soon as the fight begins.
“Certainly looked premeditated,” he said. “This appears to be happening unbeknownst to any of the teachers or administration.”
He says he emailed the videos to the principal and the school district on Wednesday, but hasn’t heard back.
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“My wife and I get three texts a week from the school talking about everything that’s happening, but they do not talk about the violence of the school,” he said. “That’s the elephant in the room that they do not want to let you know.”
He also says that his son hasn’t said anything to school officials out of fear of retaliation.
“His words were, ‘I could get jumped,’” he said. “It’s just completely unacceptable. It is only a matter of time before someone gets severely hurt.”
We reached out to Duval County Public Schools, who sent us the following:
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In accordance with our policies to protect student privacy, we are unable to confirm whether the individuals depicted in this video are students enrolled in a DCPS school.
“Regardless of where they occur, the behaviors shown in these types of videos are dangerous, reckless, and inconsistent with the standards we expect of our students. If this conduct takes place on school property, students may be subject to disciplinary consequences in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.
“School safety remains one of our highest priorities. We are committed to fostering a safe and supportive learning environment through a combination of prevention, intervention, and appropriate disciplinary measures. By working in partnership with families, we will continue to reinforce expectations for safe, respectful, and responsible behavior among all students.”
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Principal Sara Bravo sent a message to Mandarin High families that said in part, “there is no evidence of weekly or recurring fights on our campus. That does not diminish the fact that a fight did occur on our campus this week. Physical violence is unacceptable, and one fight is one too many. However, this is not a recurring issue at Mandarin.”
Bravo also said that “Our administration responded to the altercation in the restroom immediately. All students involved were held accountable to the greatest extent permitted by the Code of Student Conduct. We do not condone any form of violence on our campus, and we consistently encourage students to report concerning behavior, either in person or anonymously. To be clear, this was the only mutual fight reported at our school this school year.”
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