An incident has recently come to light involving high school students in Melbourne’s southeast participating in an underground “fightclub.” Footage of these altercations was shared on social media, raising alarm among parents and authorities.
The private Instagram account responsible for promoting these events has posted approximately 130 videos depicting students engaging in physical incidents, including kicking, punching, and even hair-pulling. Onlookers can be heard encouraging these acts.
What’s particularly concerning is that students from as many as ten different schools have been involved in these incidents, which have taken place in various locations, including basketball courts and locker bays.
Despite some concerned parents reporting the matter to Instagram, the account still maintains over 2000 followers. This has left many frustrated, including senior police officers in the area who are troubled by the violent nature of the videos and what they see as a lack of seriousness from Instagram in addressing the issue. Some videos show students repeatedly kicking their peers while they’re down.
The emergence of these online groups has brought the issue of school violence into the national spotlight. Just last month, a disturbing video circulated showing a 13-year-old girl in Queensland being subjected to hours of torture by her peers. These closed social media groups are created by students from both public and private schools, where videos of students in a conflict are regularly shared.
Simon Dewar, a school board advisor, believes that social media platforms should take more proactive measures to combat this content and prevent students from harming their own lives and the lives of others. Dewar emphasized that regularly viewing such violent content could have significant long-term effects.
While social media platforms certainly have a role to play in addressing this issue, the community as a whole needs to take action. The Department of Education has stated that they actively collaborate with the police and community groups to prevent incidents of violence in schools stemming from conflicts outside of school premises.
The presence of this underground conspiracy among high school students is deeply concerning and demands immediate attention. To effectively address this issue, it’s essential for social media platforms to step up their efforts, and schools, parents, and the broader community must work together to prevent such incidents from occurring in the first place.
