Alabama District to Expel Students Filming School Fights
The formal policy comes after the district struggled to contain student fight videos in the past.
Dr. Casey Wardynski hopes the new policies will discourage students from promoting fight videos.
Students who film fights at school and promote the video online could be expelled under an Alabama school district’s new policy.
Huntsville City Schools Superintendent Casey Wardynski announced the new policy at a March 3 board meeting with parents, according to al.com.
The policies permit Wardynski to review public social media posts of students who violate school policies and expel students accordingly. Certain websites will also be reviewed.
“There are websites where kids go to post – for their 15 minutes of fame – fight videos,” Wardynski says.
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Wardynski said he has already expelled students for sharing school fights on the Snapchat app and “will continue to expel them.” Wardynski said he’s aware of instances where students fight specifically to be videoed and put online.
“The key is the intent to distribute,” Wardynski said when explaining his process for determining punishment.
Students could also be banned from bringing cell phones to school for a full year following certain violations of the district’s Code of Conduct.
The new policies are a response to the growing epidemic of fight videos and websites dedicated to publicizing and glorifying schoolyard fights.
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