Why Some Students Fight

Part 1

The following is the first-place winner’s essay in the contest where students had to address the issue of fighting in public places. The first place winner was Ari-Onna Webster, a 9th grader at Burgard High School. Her prize was $100. Please note due to space limitations, her essay will be published in two parts. Look for part two next week. The following is her essay on the issue of fighting in schools and other public places:

Everybody goes through their own things at home. Issues like foster care, going through depression, losing people (grief), and even some teenagers becoming suicidal and wanting to hurt themselves impact us daily. Therefore, somebody else can say something to us that triggers us and throws our energy off.

There are levels to my anger. Fighting always happens from someone gossiping and then one person addresses it. Some kids need therapy, something to squeeze, or music. All kids are different. For me, I need to get what I want to say out and then walk around or listen to music.

I never had therapy before, I just talk to my mom. While at school, If I’m already upset, the adults feel that if an adult interacts with us, our whole demeanor should change and actually we need a moment to calm down before you try to talk to us. It takes me at least 7 minutes to calm down. Our school is about to start a girl’s mentoring program but I never did a mentoring program before, so I don’t know if it will work.

Typically, before fights happen there are feelings of confusion, hurt, and feeling of being alone. I used to get into fights in the past, but I have not been in one this school year. In the past, there have been feelings of indifference and me feeling like “let me just get it over with and fight.” After the fight, I’m happy because I’ve released all that bottled up anger. Unfortunately, the fight doesn’t mean it’s over. If a person fought and lost the fight, they keep going and want to fight again.

Fights can happen anywhere. They can happen out of school and then end up in school. They can happen on the internet or on Instagram. Nobody is going to sit there and let someone talk about them on Instagram. So, you have to respond and then it keeps going. Or in the case of my cousin, she fought another girl because someone came up to her in school and sneaked in a side entrance and fought her. Even though the “beef” happened when school was not in session, once school resumed, it continued.