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Teenagers brawl then put the video on popular Web sites like YouTube, and now it's happening in Utah schools.
The Salt Lake City School District acknowledges that the video we found may involve students from Highland High School and that it took place a block from the school. Thanks to a tip, we've learned more about it, and it's likely not an isolated incident.
Both the Salt Lake City School District and the Salt Lake Police Department knew nothing about the YouTube video. Yet, some of the students we talked to say this is happening all the time and much more often.
Fighting among high school students is nothing new, but now the Internet can be used to promote teenage violence in ways school yard gossip could never compete. Students at Highland High know all about it.
Student Ryan Conrad said, "Today there were three or four. There was one or two like a half an hour ago." He says those fights will go online in days.
One in Sugarhouse Park was recorded by a number of spectators and popped up on YouTube last week. We notified the Salt Lake City School District.
District spokesman Jason Olsen said, "The posting of these fights online is both a blessing and a curse." He says it's a brand new issue, one that takes taunting and cyberbullying to a whole new level.
He's says while video makes it easier to identify students involved, the ripple effect on the Web can be difficult to manage.
"That's when the concern comes in for the school that there's that potential for more violence and also the disruption to the school day," Olsen said.
But Highland High School is not alone. Countless videos of teens fighting are all over the Internet, some promoting gangs. Students we talked to say while punishment from parents and school administrators is rare, most teens want nothing to do with the fights.
Highland High student Jeremy Zurligen said, "I'm pretty concerned about it because it just causes people to fight more."
Conrad added, "I just think it's stupid."
The Salt Lake City School District says the fights are tough to deal with. For one thing, YouTube is actually blocked on all district computers, and secondly, this fight in particular happened off campus.
Still, both the district and police say they'll explore the problem.
E-mail: wjohnson@ksl.com
