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Video of THS fight goes online and sparks fury, concerns

A video of a fight between three Tafuna High School girls that took place during lunch time this past Tuesday has gone viral online, after it was uploaded on to facebook and viewed by numerous people both here and off island.

 

THS principal Beauty Tuiasosopo confirmed yesterday that the video was uploaded on to facebook by a male teacher, who “will be dealt with accordingly".

 

Tuiasosopo called the action by the teacher “unprofessional” and it is a matter that “definitely” will be addressed. It is unclear whether the teacher will be suspended or terminated.

 

When contacted for comments, Director of Education Vaitinasa Dr. Salu Hunkin-Finau told Samoa News yesterday that her office was not aware of the situation, as they were never contacted about the incident.

 

Tuiasosopo said the issue was dealt with immediately after it occurred, and there was no need to drag it out any further. She said the fight was not a “major” one and added that it was sparked as a result of “differences between the kids”.

 

She said the problem was resolved that same day and the parents of those involved were called in and notified.

 

The THS principal said that according to the by-laws, suspension is the punishment for fighting and that is what she imposed on those involved.

 

In the nearly minute-long video, which was tagged to the Samoa News facebook page by several of our local and off-island readers, girls are seen fighting as a crowd of students stand by and watch. Not one person was seen trying to step in to stop the fight, and students can be heard cheering and asking the girls to start the fight over.

 

Comments made online about the video clip are shocking, in that several people praise the attacker for her actions, saying she did “great” and that they were “proud” of her, and giving props to her Tongan roots.

 

Other comments include people saying they were going to upload more videos of the fight and call the victim an “alien”.

 

While others encourage the attacker, telling her that she should have beat the other girl’s head into the cement and smashed her face in.

 

The video has also netted emails from concerned parents, wondering if their kids are safe to go to school and asking if such actions are condoned by the DOE, considering the video was uploaded by a school teacher, who, in his role as a teacher, should have stopped the fight and kept the matter contained, instead of “putting it out there for the world to see".

 

Samoa News readers from off island expressed their own concerns, with one lady saying she sees violence like this in stateside schools almost everyday and she is “sad” that such actions are being “blasted” online through social media, and such actions shouldn’t be tolerated.

 

THS principal Tuiasosopo said she was told that the video was uploaded as part of “a joke” but she found no humor in it.

 

She offered her apologies for the incident and said she will do what she has to, in order to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

 

(Samoa News is not sure if she is referring to the fight or to the incident being uploaded to Facebook for all to see.)