‘Sickening’ fight at Christchurch private school results in five students being stood down

Monday, 23 September 2024

A prestigious Christchurch private school stood down five students after a video showing a locker room brawl was posted online.

A parent told Stuff the video was “sickening” to watch.

Rector Christine Leighton said the fight appeared to be premeditated.

The prestigious Christchurch private school St Andrew’s College has stood down five students after a video was posted online showing a locker room brawl.

One parent told Stuff the video was “sickening” to watch.

Rector Christine Leighton said she believed the fight that took place on September 10 was premeditated and involved two students who were not previously known to each other.

As far as Leighton was aware, there were no injuries.

She said a senior staff member began an investigation immediately and a number of disciplinary meetings were held, resulting in five students being stood down.

“It is believed that this was a standalone, isolated incident,” she said.

“There’s nothing in our school to indicate that there are any other issues relating to this incident.”

A parent of one of the students involved in the fight said she “could not fault the school” for how it had handled the situation.

The consequences the students received were “correct”, said Leighton.

“They need to learn from this.”

Leighton said the school’s concern was now managing the well-being of students amidst any fallout from the video, which she said had been circulated widely online.

“The boys have done their time, and we want to move on as a school community and support the boys to get on post this incident,” she said.

She told Stuff a parent of one of the students involved had reported the video to police and Netsafe.

Police could not confirm whether it had received a report regarding the incident.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Education said the school had not reported the incident to the ministry.

The incident comes after students at another Christchurch school were made to leave following a video that circulated showing them assaulting a man and making him eat pet food in August.

Netsafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said although he was unable to comment on any specific incidents, videos of fights can be “incredibly damaging to a lot of people”.

He said the filming and circulation of fight videos had been around for some time, however as technology improved it was becoming easier to recognise people in them.

“It is easier to see what’s going on and it’s easier to share videos online,” he said.

Lyons said videos showing fights in which people are physically harming each other should be reported to the platforms they are shared on.