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The number of student fights increased in the month of May, with four taking place in one week. Within this time, Encinal administration have noticed a pattern. Most, if not all, of the alterations involved students in the Freshmen class, and the most recent incidents were influenced by Tiktok’s “Slap Challenge.”
“It’s a game they are playing where they come up from behind and slap somebody,” said Encinal’s administrator, Mr. Gorham. “What it does is it catches the other person off guard and they get upset, leading to a big altercation."
We ask students and staff at Encinal how they felt about the rise in fights on campus.
“I think it’s stupid and immature, but I’m not surprised because it’s freshmen,” said junior Saara Siiovonen.
“Most of the kids who fight get influenced by their friends. They think it’s cool and cute to fight,” said another freshman who preferred to remain anonymous.
“I think it’s very irresponsible on their part and I think that those children need to be held accountable in a more enforcing manner, because if they're doing it now in ninth grade it's only going to only escalate and get worse if parents do not intervene,” said school nurse, Mrs. Francis.
We also asked the community how we could prevent these altercations in the future.
“I think that if we have conversations and educate freshmen in general, they won't happen as much,” said Siiovonen.
“We should involve the parents. The ninth graders this year have a very huge sense of entitlement that is not correct. Somehow, we need to dial that into their daily dynamics, because it is not acceptable,” added Francis.
The week after the fights, administrator Ron Parodi visited all freshmen English classes to inform students that playing the slap challenge would result in immediate suspension. At least four students were suspended in the last week of May.
Dylan Wade contributed to this story.
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