STOUGHTON, Mass. — Members of the Stoughton High School faculty are recovering from injuries sustained while trying to intervene in a vicious fight that happened Wednesday in a hallway. The school went into a shelter-in-place during the brawl.
In a letter to parents obtained by Boston 25 News, school officials confirm that several students began arguing, which turned violent, and as faculty stepped in to end the fight, they were injured.
“It’s kind of scary that the teachers have to throw themselves in the middle,” said junior Matthew Sellitto. “I think one of them got injured from it, which is not something a teacher should be doing.”
Students said the cell phones were ready to record because they could see the fight coming for a half hour.
“It started as a big argument between two girls, and people started egging each other on,” said senior Aristaeus Giatrakos.
“We need to have a bigger social push to help children deal with their emotions,” said parent Janine Giatrakos.
Parents and students we spoke with said they think they know what’s contributing to more fights in school.
“We think it’s completely connected to remote learning,” said parent Thomas Giatrakos.
“There’s been three yesterday and the day before, and there’s been quite a number the whole year,” Sellitto said.
The school was placed into a shelter-in-place to de-escalate the situation. Once resolved, the shelter-in-place was lifted, and the school day resumed as normal.
The school states in its letter to parents that “behaviors seen in our hallway today are not tolerated” and that students could face lengthy suspensions or expulsion.
The fight video has been circulating amongst students all over social media. In the letter, the school also said recording fights is prohibited, and it will now be revisiting cell phone policies. We reached out to both the school and teachers association for additional comments but didn’t hear back.
Additional messages were left Friday morning.
This is the latest in a trend of violence in schools across our area. Lawrence, Everett, Leicester, and Quincy, among others, have been dealing with fights among students. The Henderson School in Dorchester was closed for several days after a student allegedly knocked the principal unconscious.
With no one size fits all solution, schools and families are realizing the toll that an extended period of remote learning has taken. Teachers in both large and small districts are seeing a pattern of behavioral unrest and emotional damage among students.
Recently, Boston 25 News spoke with Dr. Ellen Braaten about school fights. Braaten is a licensed child psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“I think there are a lot of kids who didn’t learn the skills they would have last year,” said Braaten.
While each situation is different, Braaten recommends parents try to make sure their children are getting enough sleep, exercise and keep them in a normal routine.
“Kids who were doing fine for the first year or half-year of the pandemic are now showing signs of stress, chronic trauma, anxiety about the future,” Braaten said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated the incident happened on Thursday, but it happened Wednesday.
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