A group of Stockdale High School students gathered after summer school classes to watch organized fights between freshman and sophomore girls. The fights were taped and are making the rounds on You Tube, causing law enforcement and the school district to investigate.
Combined, the fight videos have gotten nearly 1,000 hits on You Tube.
The girls are encouraged by a group of classmates to punch, kick, and pull hair. Several organized fights have broken out at Tevis Park after summer school classes, and police say they have extra patrols following rumors of where the next fights will take place.
However, this is far from child's play. Both police and school district officials are investigating, and if they find the fights are not what they call "mutual combat," the students could face charges.
"Most of what we're seeing on this particular video is mutual combat," Sgt. Joe Grubbs of Bakersfield Police Department said.
"So what we want to do is identify those kids, contact them, and make sure they haven't been injured in some way we don't know about -- a serious injury -- and determine from them, and in some cases parents, if they want to proceed with criminal action."
Video of a fight labeled "Mia vs Kayla" was posted by a user claiming to be Mr. Jeff Wallace, a science teacher at Stockdale High School. The user has since taken the video offline and his profile has been deleted.
In a statement to 17 News, Jeff Wallace said, "I did not post this video. These kids are harassing me."
Licensed Clinical Psychologist Dr. Corey Gonzales says fighting between teenage girls is common, and links the behavior to reality TV.
"You watch these MTV reality shows of people fighting all day long, or who's going to get the rock and roller or which housewife is tougher," Dr. Gonzales said. "All this fighting and drama that we see every day, it does kind of become the norm."
Gonzales says parents need to keep up with technology like text messages and You Tube accounts so their child doesn't end up doing embarrassing and possibly illegal acts on the web.
Gonzales has studied female fighting and says most cases have to do with teenage girls wanting to get boys' attention.
"Male power gives you more acceptance," Dr. Gonzales explained. "And these girls unfortunately are fighting over boys and acceptance and trying to be empowered to try and impress these boys. So unfortunately these girls are going the extra length to try to get attention so that's what most of these fights are about."
So far, no one has been charged for the fighting, but one boy was sent to Juvenile Hall Friday for carrying a club, which is considered an unlawful weapon.
The investigation is ongoing, and some students could face juvenile probation if someone claims to be a victim or parents come forward pressing for criminal action.
