Shocking footage of organised f ight clubs at fee-paying school

TEENAGERS at a fee-paying secondary school are the latest to broadcast ‘fight club’ videos, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The MoS has seen footage – which has been circulating online – of vicious fights that were filmed on the grounds of the exclusive school over nine months.

The MoS understands that the fights were scheduled, each having a set time and duration.

The earliest recorded fight dates back to May 2017, and shows a group of students, all in their uniforms, gathered on grass beside the school’s car park.

In the first two fights, the boys wear boxing gloves, while other students watch and record the blows. The later fights are more savage, featuring brutal bareknuckle bouts.

The most vicious fight shows two teenagers emerging from opposing sides of a circle of around 40 classmates. After a flurry of punches one of the boys is knocked to the ground. Similar to a mixed martial arts fight his opponent pins him to the ground and continues to punch him. Eventually a number of students separate the two to allow the boy lying on the ground to rise to his feet and compose himself before the fight resumes. The final fight seen by the MoS is in January 2018, with snow visible on the ground. Two younger boys march towards each other on the road beside the usual venue for the fight club. Again their classmates watch on, filming the punches.

Parents at the €4,000-a-year school told the MoS they had previously been aware that fighting was an issue at the school but were ‘shocked’ to learn of the organised bouts.

‘We knew that there had been some issues with fighting but nothing like this. We’re shocked, to be honest,’ they said.

Director of anti-bullying group Bully 4u, Jim Harding, said violence is becoming increasingly normalised for young people and that parents need to monitor what their children view and share online.

‘If parents were more involved this sort of thing would not be happening. From our experience it tends to be children with unfettered access to the internet with little or no parental supervision. He said the fight club was ‘terrible behaviour’ and that it ‘wouldn’t be long before someone is seriously injured’. ‘The fact that it could be taking place on school property, is a sad indictment of the culture of some educational establishments,’ he added.

Mr Harding said there is also a problem at primary school level, with up to 50% of children playing violent games.

Last week the MoS reported on a fight club at a Limerick school where fights were being recorded and shared on Snapchat until as recently as last week.

‘Pins him to the ground and continues to punch’

The first of the bare-knuckle fights shows one student being knocked to the ground. Approximately 40 students gather to watch the winter fight, with bare trees visible in the background.

Two students exchange blows as their classmates watch and record. Snow is visible on the roadside.

Images on Snapchat show students in school uniforms competing in organised bouts wearing boxing gloves. The videos show summer foliage and a bright sunny day. Seventeen students can be seen viewing what appears to be the early days of the fight club.

Two students wearing boxing gloves fight on a bright day with summer foliage visible. Thirteen students watch the bout.