The halls of Gresham High, usually busy with classes and sports, have lately had a bad pattern. Since the beginning of the year, the school has seen far too many physical fights between students. Although some fights may start off-campus, most are connected to or occur at school, endangering students who want to attend class. The sudden eruptions of violence stop people from learning and make students, teachers, and staff worried about safety.
The Argus spoke with some students and staff to gauge the school community’s feelings about this and to determine who they think should stop it. We learned that there is a significant difference in how staff and students perceive things, especially regarding how quickly fights go viral.
Tyler, a sophomore, said that the way social media works makes fighting harder to stop: “You can’t do n’un bout it, especially the fight videos, ‘cuz one person got it then tha other got it then this person has it and it’s a whole thing.” Videos of fights spreading on social media often exacerbate the situation, leading to further conflicts and transforming school problems into a public spectacle that everyone discusses, even after the school day has ended.
Another student, annoyed by how much the fights interrupt things, spoke about acting older. Many students want the school to be a basic, safe place just for learning, free from needless danger and childish behavior.
On the other hand, school staff often emphasize the importance of students helping themselves, rather than relying solely on the school’s rules. When questioned, Jay, a campus monitor, told the Argus: “It’s on the students, not the school, to do something about the fights. You guys need to learn how to use your words.” His idea was that while the school can punish people, the real, long-term solution to stopping fights must come from students learning to communicate more effectively and de-escalate situations.
As of this writing, the bigger, hallway-clearing fights have calmed down. The students of GHS really need to step back and ask if this is what the school environment should be like. Fights will never fully disappear in a large public setting like a high school, but the school’s primary responsibility is to enforce strict rules to keep them as low as possible. On the students’ end, better communication skills are the best way to stop fights. For Gresham High School to truly stay a safe place for learning, both the leaders and the students must work together. This means teaching students ways to solve problems, implementing student programs to help calm things down, and making it normal to report potential problems before they escalate into actual fights. The safety of our halls really comes down to everyone agreeing to act more mature and talk things out before flying off the rails.