Fights breaking out in schools are becoming all too common according to Ken Trump, the president of the National School Safety and Security Services.
“We’ve seen an uptick in fights, particularly in high schools, larger fights, more intense fights, sometimes involving weapons, and often now bringing in outsiders,” Trump said.
On Thursday, McKeesport Area School District’s solicitor told Channel 11 a dispute between two groups that started outside of school reached a boiling point inside the high school.
A teacher breaking up the fight went to the hospital with a shoulder injury.
Over the weekend, Woodland Hills Superintendent, Dr. Daniel Castagna, announced enhanced security at the middle and high schools Monday after “two recent incidents of gun violence in our local school community.”
One of those was a shooting that sent a teenager to the hospital after being shot in the back in Swissvale.
“What starts as a one-on-one fight in a school cafeteria in the morning can often escalate to larger fights during lunch and large-scale fights with outsiders, including the use of weapons,” Trump said.
Trump encourages school administrators to be highly visible in school common areas like cafeterias, hallways, and stairwells in order to help deescalate conflicts before they turn into violence either in school or after school.
“One fight, one assault, one major conflict can disrupt an entire school and an entire school community, and create additional anxiety, burdens, and stress on parents, kids, and educators,” Trump said.
Across the state, data from the PA Department of Education’s Safe Schools program shows fighting in school is on the rise.
During the 2022-23 school year, there were 11,331 fights reported statewide compared to 10,746 fights the previous year.
“In recent years, following the pandemic, we’ve seen an uptick in verbal, physical aggression, a great deal of anxiety, ambiguity, and uncertainty, and stress across the board,” Trump explained.
The data also shows an increase in assaults on students and staff, as well as an increase in arrests.
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