Students head to school each morning, their homework, textbooks and lunchboxes in hand.
Some return home with busted lips, black eyes and suspension notices.
Fights still surface at many schools in Southwest Florida, though districts have inaugurated anti-violence and anti-bullying programs at all grade levels.
In Lee County, high schools aren’t the main battleground. Middle school students engage in almost twice as many showdowns per capita, using their fists to settle disagreements, despite the consequences.
“The middle school years are the most challenging for students because they are the puberty years,” said Jackie Turner, director of student services in Lee County. “Hormones are raging, and they don’t always make good decisions.”
In response to a public-records request, the Florida Department of Education provided The News-Press with preliminary data that show every fight reported at every public school in Florida for the past four years … 121,160 skirmishes in all. Not surprisingly, the largest school districts — Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach and Duval — had the most fights.
Reporting requirements haven’t changed. Public schools must disclose every fight, which Florida defines as two students mutually showing a use of force or violence that necessitates physical restraint to break it up. Pushing, verbal arguments and stare-downs do not qualify as fights.