Video of fight raises issues

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A video of a fight in the halls of a Portage school is highlighting a much bigger problem.

That video shows two students beating each other at Portage Northern High School, but as soon as a bystander posted it to the internet, it took on a life of its own.

The video was on YouTube, it was on facebook, and it was on myspace. A tipster, disturbed by comments accompanying the video, brought it to the attention of Newschannel 3. Most of those comments were about how 'cool' the video was.

Technology allows us to do many things with ease, but just because we can, doesn't necessarily mean we should. After Newschannel 3 saw the video of the fight, we started tracking down the people involved.

The fight lasted for more than a minute with a large crowd cheering it on. Newschannel 3 sat down to watch the video with one of the teens involved and his family.

Mike Lemmons and his parents say the fight was no accident.

“I was also informed by the principal today that this kid and the kid that taped it, they set it up so it was going to be taped,” said Jennifer Cornish, Mike's mother.

Cornish says finding the video on YouTube was disturbing.

“I was upset that kids are videotaping this and it's been all over the internet and people think it's cool, it's really not that cool,” said Cornish.

For Cornish, the video highlights a larger moral dilemma, and a dangerous relationship between youth and technology.

“If they're videotaping fights, what else are they taping that we don't know about,” said Cornish.

Portage Public Schools says that “the district appreciates the balance between the privilege students have in bringing electronic devices to school, with the provision that those devices are not to be used on campus during school hours.”

Enforcing that provision is clearly difficult, and now a few moments of video shot in school has taken on a life of its own.

“I was told today it was taken down and I said, well that's great, but these kids have taken it off YouTube, and it's now on their facebooks and their myspace,” said Cornish.

Postings regarding the fight have been endless and hurtful, including further threats of violence against Mike, all of which he's seen.

“I laughed,” said Mike. “People think it's funny, like they get all into it, and I just think it's funny.”

Portage Public Schools does not find situation amusing. It says “the available technology that students bring from home raises many privacy issues in general which the district continues to examine.”

Both students involved where suspended for three days for the fight. Those suspensions ended Friday, but Mike's family elected to keep him at home because of continuing threats online.