Controversy continues to swirl around Panther Creek High School fight videos
CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Some Wake County parents are outraged after school fights caught on tape between students showed up on social media. They say the principal is only downplaying what's really happening by calling the fights staged.
After our first report aired Tuesday night, the fight videos which caused the uproar were taken down from Twitter. However, the controversy remains. There continues to be very different views from administrators, parents, and students on whether those fights were real or staged.
"My reaction [to the video] was my son got jumped. My son was unaware and next thing you know I've got this other kid pounding on my son," said Panther Creek High parent Andres Marquez.
Marquez and his wife, Stacy, say their 15-year old son, Gabe, was the victim in Monday's cafeteria brawl at Panther Creek High. The fight was posted on the Twitter page, "Panther Creek Fight Videos."
The fistfight is among the confrontations that the principal suggested Tuesday was not as real as it looked, characterizing it as a staged event among friends to grab attention on social media.
For Gabe's mother and father, that is offensive.
"I just can speak for my son. I don't think, I know this was not planned for him," Stacy Marquez said.
"[The fight was] very real. He was very confused. He's never been in a situation like that before," Andres Marquez said.
Tuesday, the school system said Panther Creek's principal had launched her own investigation. And after analyzing the videos, like the chaotic tussle inside a science classroom or the pair of outdoor brawls between girls, the principal determined the majority were not shot at Panther Creek.
In an email to ABC 11, a Panther Creek student wrote, "None of these were fake fights." He goes on to say that the fights happened, "on school grounds and inside classrooms."
A school system spokesperson told ABC 11 the biggest giveaway that the cafeteria fight was staged is the fact that the cell phone camera was already rolling before the fight began which lead the principal to conclude this was a ploy among friends to gain notoriety on social media.
"To all of a sudden include us in that, when the reality is we had one individual who wasn't [involved is unfair]," Andres Marquez said.
"I mean, [the principal] came to that conclusion without speaking to us, or she hadn't even spoken to Gabe," Stacy Marquez said.
The Marquez's son was suspended from school along with the other boy involved. However, the family is still waiting for a face-to-face meeting with the principal.
The school system wants parents to remind students about responsibly using social media and their responsibility to report bullying.
