Girl Fights

The explosion of fighting videos across the internet has finally caught the attention of the mainstream news, in the form of a CBS2HD news stories on the huge number of videos of girl fights on the internet.  It's about time these videos reached the attention of more people.  The article, entitled "Teen-On-Teen Girl Fights Sweeping Internet", discusses how more and more fights between girls are taking place in schools across the country, with 80% of reported school fights being girl-on-girl.  Footage of real fights from street fights to gang fights are easily found on Youtube these days, and any minor who sets up a Youtube account lying about their age have access to this footage.  And people aren't just stumbling across these videos accidentally, either.  Thousands of people search for terms like "mexican girl fights" and "ghetto black girl fights".  The article puts forth the theory that seeing such videos (not only on Youtube, but on a host of other sites as well) makes minors more likely to engage in similar behavior because there are many people who will do anything to "get famous".  I'm going to guess there's more to it than that.  Recently a friend confided in me that girls in America and Canada are almost trained to hate each other.  Maybe what she actually said was that girls are taught to be really competitive with each other, to put down other girls.  She said that one girl can almost never trust what comes out of another girl's mouth if, for example, that girl gives a compliment.  As an example, she said that if a girl tells her "I like your shirt," it might mean that the girl hates her shirt, or that she's jealous because she wants the shirt, or it could also mean that she really does like the shirt.  This friend pointed out that only the word of close, true friends could be trusted.  This was an epiphany for me, because as a guy I had always thought that women got along pretty well.  Apparently, if girl fights are any indication, this ill will that has tended to fester below the surface is now starting to come out in ugly and violent ways more and more.  If you really want ugly, take a look at the videos of girl gang fights; these go even farther in terms of violence.   

One of the most disturbing things about these videos is that someone had to be there filming it, and they do nothing to stop the brutal girl fight.  Oftentimes, this is rather inexcusable as grown men are often present during these fights.  They could separate the girls, call the authorities, any number of things.  But taking a quick look at some videos makes it clear that bystanders are getting some kind of perverse enjoyment from watching two people work on hurting each other.  Oftentimes, they'll even make encouraging comments or laugh at the fighters.  I've commented on the cruel behavior of bystanders before in other articles, and it seems even more outrageous when girls are involved. 
This will probably fall on deaf ears, but I do believe that bystanders have the responsibility to intervene when they can.  Obviously, there is an element of danger, so each individual must use their judgment on what to do if they find themselves witnessing a girl fight or other street fight in progress.  But since girl fights are fast becoming a serious social problem, it's up each member of society to do their part. 
The CBS article I mentioned in the introduction includes advice from school officials on the best way to proceed when it comes to preventing their own kids from taking part in street fights.  The only really helpful tip they gave was for parents to talk to their kids about the issue.  It's rather funny too, because the make the point that you should ask a lot of questions, rather than just expressly forbidding your kids to do it.  That's some solid parenting advice that applies to many aspects of kids' lives.  It's been said many times that it's important for parents to talk to their kids, and to keep in mind that half of talking can consist of listening!  As a parent, I have found that kids (my kid, at least) really do listen if you take the time to slowly and gently explain why they should or shouldn't do something.  Of course, this article will probably be preaching to the choir as I'm sure most parents who already have healthy communication with their kids don't have to worry about their children, especially girls, getting into fights which will be posted on the internet. 
One ineffective tip they gave was to tell kids to report any "inappropriate" videos- like that will help anything.  Even if they did, the videos would just be flagged as not suitable for minors, and minors can still watch them with the greatest of ease.  And that's just Youtube and other well-known sites; there are probably hundreds of other sites that also offer clips of girl fights as entertainment.

I think that, as usual, this love of violence is a symptom of deeper issues. I think that to really change things, we as a society have to do some work on non-violence. Why don't we study Gandhi in school, instead of glorify violence in movies and print? Lest we forget, Gandhi freed one of the most populous countries in the world from the domination of the world's greatest empire at the time, and he did it NON-VIOLENTLY!! Every time I think of this, I am blown away by the love and force of spirit that made this possible. Let's focus on REAL power, the power to do good and help all members of society. Kids especially need to get the message that "being someone" isn't about being able to dominate and intimidate (or at least it shouldn't be about that). It's a shame that so much of our youth wastes so much time watching footage of humans beating the crap out of each other. I don't have the solutions, but I think that together, we can come up with something. If nothing else, perhaps all kids should be forced to undertake martial arts training. Those who wish to can spar, and it will be under professional supervision. And it will then be about skill, and spirit, rather than unmitigated violence.