Ricardo Martinez, an 11th grader, witnessed a mass brawl erupt in his high school lunchroom, with a dozen teenage boys pummeling and kicking each other, overturning tables and chairs. The 2020 incident was only the beginning of a series of violent conflicts at Revere High School, with students using cellphones and social media to arrange, provoke, and spread footage of brutal beatings among their peers.
The phenomenon is not unique to one school district. Across the United States, technology centered on cellphones has fueled and intensified campus brawls, disrupting learning and derailing education. A New York Times review of over 400 fight videos from schools in California, Georgia, Texas, and a dozen other states found a pattern of middle and high school students using phones and social media to orchestrate, provoke, and spread footage of violent conflicts.
The cycle of violence often begins with student cyberbullying or online disrespect among friends, leading to in-person squabbles during school. Phones are then used to film and pressure quarreling students to brawl. Students later share and comment on the fight videos, humiliating victims and sometimes provoking additional conflicts.
The issue has spread across the nation, with violent incidents reported in Los Angeles, Buffalo, Jefferson County, Kentucky, Prince George’s County, Maryland, and smaller school districts. Some districts face negligence lawsuits from parents, while others struggle to maintain staff as teachers quit.
School administrators now spend a significant portion of their time working to thwart or unravel teen tech-stoked school fights. “Cellphones and technology are the No. 1 source of soliciting fights, advertising fights, documenting, and almost glorifying fights by students,” said Kelly Stewart, an assistant principal at Juneau-Douglas High School in Juneau, Alaska.
Students claim that fighting has become a regular part of school life, while some school leaders blame a lack of resources and training for addressing the issue. The crisis has also led to lawsuits against social media companies, which have been accused of enabling and profiting from school violence.
In response, schools have implemented measures like banning cellphones during school hours and hiring more security personnel. However, the fight videos often spread quickly, causing emotional distress and chaos. Some students and families are now calling for more comprehensive approaches to address the issue, including teaching digital citizenship, providing mental health support, and developing programs that promote positive online interactions.
