Video footage of a fight between two male students in a restroom at Abilene High School surfaced on social media roughly two weeks ago prompting questions in the community about how the school handles such situations. The fight took place Nov. 14.
“When information comes our way (about an altercation) we do our best to investigate as much as we can the entirety of the story,” said Ben Smith, school principal. “If we find out we have students who have engaged in fighting, they are both suspended.”
Smith said the district was aware of the incident and abiding by district policies, has addressed it.
According to Facebook posts about the fight, both students were suspended.
“We try to learn the entirety of the story and sometimes the entirety of the story is not everything that gets out and we also cannot share everything we know,” he said. “I think most of the community trusts that we are going to do our best job with that.”
Having video evidence is helpful to start an investigation, but often leaves out pertinent details.
“Cell phone footage sometimes tells us part of the story,” Smith said. “It doesn’t tell us what happened before or after. It tells us what happened right there when the filming was going on.”
The school can also issue discipline if students engage in actions that can lead to a fight occurring, even if they are not physically involved. Cell phone video can help with that as well.
“We do not have policy that allows me to do anything about students who video or use their cell phones to record an event but sometimes we can use that footage to determine if a student has instigated or egged on an event,” he said.
The fight occurred as the students were in-between classes, which is when they are allowed to carry their cell phones. The school policy, implemented four years ago, requires students to turn their phones in when they get to class.
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