Gardai in Co Cork are investigating a video that has gone viral on the internet which shows two teenage girls fighting while surrounded by a group of up to 50 other teenagers.
The fight was filmed by several mobile phones and uploaded to the internet on Wednesday. It has been viewed several thousand times since. Three teenage girls have been suspended by their school while an investigation is carried out into the fight which takes place outside school hours.
The footage lasts for just under three minutes, shows two first year girls as young as 12 or 13 hitting and punching each other on the ground while they are being cheered on by bystanders.
The fight is evidently pre-arranged and is said to be over a teenage boy, who was allegedly given a standing ovation in his school the day after.
The incident raises major questions in schools and homes across the country this week of both the behaviour and the use of mobile phones to record and share the footage.
One girl pushes another towards her opponent for the fight.
Teenagers commenting on the fight on Twitter are using the hashtag #firstyearfight to converse with one another. There are also several memes about the fight online. The two girls fighting were said to be “besties” before the fight.
Christ King, a prominent Cork city school, has since issued a statement in which it condemns what happened. It describes the video as appalling and unacceptable and says the school authorities are not just disappointed by the behaviour of those involved in the fighting but also by those who urged them on or who made no effort to intervene.
The fight took place in a Cork suburb area. One of the girls is seen being pushed roughly towards her opponent in an action that apparently deemed the fight underway.
The two young girls proceeded to punch each other and pull each other’s hair.
Up to 50 shouting children surrounded the pair who were fighting, shouting encouragement and a running commentary. As the fight slows down at one point, one girl is heard to say; “Come on, this is getting boring…”
At one stage, one girl has the other and is seen punching her in the face and upper body to shouts of encouragement.
The pair were surrounded by up to 50 children shouting encouragement.
National Parents’ Council Post Primary spokeswoman Jackie O’Callaghan said schools and parents needed “to make the punishment suit the crime”.
“Children must be made aware of the implications of fighting and how punching somebody in the head could actually kill them. They also need to be made aware of the implications of social media and the fact this is up on the internet forever.”
