Loudoun County Middle School ‘Fight Clubs’ Formed by Students and Parents
“Students have created ‘fight clubs’, some of them elaborate with brackets, betting, and challenges, and many parents are well aware of their child’s participation in them, some hosting in their garages or basements.”
You know…how about we try to find out what doesn’t happen in Loudoun County schools?
Lunsford Middle School Principle Carrie Simms told parents about intricate fight clubs at the school and home.
There’s not a lot of information about it but some parents helped form and host the fights.
It turns out some parents helped the kids form and host the fights:
In response to a physical altercation last week and the discovery of activity on social media, the principal sent a message to parents via her weekly newsletter. I have provided the message below. Because this involves student discipline, I cannot provide any further information.
Violent behavior, fighting, and its promotion on social media have no place in our school community. We take matters that involve the safety of our students and staff, both physical and emotional, seriously and will continue to enhance our efforts in cultivating a culture of kindness, inclusivity, and affirmation for every member of our student body and staff.
“We’d like to take a moment to inform parents of outside influences that have tried to make their way into the building. Students have created “fight clubs”, some of them elaborate with brackets, betting, and challenges, and many parents are well aware of their child’s participation in them, some hosting in their garages or basements. We cannot tell you how to parent, but when your children create TikToks and Instagram pages using Lunsford’s name, and then attempt to hold these fights in our hallways and bathrooms, we will take action. This past Friday, we needed to do a “reset” in the morning and ask students to come in, get their things from their lockers, and report directly to advisory without the usual 20 minutes of free time to walk around the school to socialize with friends. Unfortunately, some students created a very unsafe situation for all and we needed to be able to start our education for the day in a calm manner.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is not involved.
MIDDLE SCHOOL FIGHT CLUB: Principal at J. Michael Lunsford MS in Loudoun County sent a letter home indicating there were Fight Clubs happening at homes and in school hallways. Letter implies some parents knew this was happening. Tournaments & betting part of it. pic.twitter.com/Lik2VYL6XG
— David Kaplan (@DKaplanFox5DC) May 26, 2023
School administration not commenting beyond letter, adding there are student discipline & privacy matters at play.
Sheriff’s office tells me at this time they are not involved with this.
Reached out to Jeff Morse, school board rep for Lunsford, & education association.
— David Kaplan (@DKaplanFox5DC) May 26, 2023
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Comments
This should be regarded and treated the same as drag queen events for kids: involved adults should be prosecuted aggressively.
“Violent behavior…has no place in the school community…”
Really? What about football and wrestling. Trust me, both can be plenty violent. Heck, ever post up with the wide bodies under the net in a heated basketball game? Or get tackled in a soccer game? What about Police Athletic League boxing? Karate lessons?
Violence is everywhere. Raise your kids to be comfortable with it and handle themselves.
Agree. Provided there are trained referees who know when to step in, this is a positive for the middle school kids.
No- this is why you sign your kid up for BJJ. When they do arm bars and chokes 100 times a night and get their faces ground into the mat by someone better (there’s always someone batter) you’ll find their need for doing this crap outside the gym goes to zero unless they are forced to… which is usually never.
Yes, this was my question as well. Are the parents doing boxing or wrestling or karate clubs at home?
The school describes them as “fight clubs” but gives no substantive information.
Given that I believe that this is the school district that has had multiple rapes, then lied and covered them up, then lied and tried to cover up the cover up, I don’t give them much credibility.
It’s also not like they’ve lied about parents before to get them arrested…oh, wait…
You know after your mama drops you on your head more than one visit to the doctor may be needed to fully assess any damage.
How about a parent sponsored and very carefully supervised shooting team?
At least three folks here gave a DV so I’m guessing they don’t like the idea. Most likely they not only don’t want their kid to learn firearm safety and marksmanship but don’t want anyone else’s kid to do so either b/c reasons.
At least one of the down-tickers just plain doesn’t like me.
Been noticing lately a lot of drive-by downvotes without comment, from the downvoting coward’s brigade
I am dating myself, my high school had a shooting range and students were allowed to bring rifles to school for the shooting team.
My school had a Russian roulette club back in the day before trigger warnings.
That was because someone unclear of the concept provided semi-automatic handguns.
Meh, kids fight especially boys. That’s how they learn to become capable of performing the basic role of men, a competent protector. No video showing the fights. The fights at school were probably not ‘sanctioned’ events by people who organized this.
If these kids are given some protective equipment, basic instruction/coaching have timed rounds and ref to monitor /step in to halt it and some sort of medical attention on standby then so long as the kids Parents are aware and approve what’s the problem?
“If these kids are given some protective equipment”
…then they probably wouldn’t all be showing up at first bell with bloody faces.
1. That assumes it was true that kids showed up at 1st bell with bloody faces.
2. It assumes the ‘bloody faces’ were a result of the actions of the Parents being blamed here for ‘Fight club’.
It is possible that kids had a conflict but were not in ‘fight club’. It’s even possible that the kids in ‘fight club’ had a dispute that escalated into violence away from and unrelated to ‘fight club’.
If it turns out that Parents were letting/encouraging kids to brawl each other to unconsciousness or severe ass kicking. Were placing monetary wagers on the same, were sending participating members to pick a fight with folks unrelated to their activities; IOW living out the Cray Cray of the movie Fight Club then I have no issues with charging the Parents.
We simply don’t know enough at this point to start looking for a tree and measuring out rope. Let’s also not forget what school district this is and how much or how little credibility they have when communicating events on campus and in dealing with Parents.
I suppose the good news part of this story is no trans-females, trans-males, or nonbinary kids were implicated or involved.
They can’t fight anyone or anything
I thought the first rule of fight club was not to talk bout fight club.
I enrolled my kids in Taikwando, because that’s what was available. Their masters were great — they taught them to avoid fighting, if they could.
Variation on that theme: my carry permit classes were competent in firearms instruction but also instilled a very strong sense of situational awareness.
and leaving by any means possible before the situation escalates. I’ve sat through several and that is always one of the first things the instructor teaches. Avoid the situation, leave, run if you have to but above all know what is going on around you so you can prevent yourself from getting into a dangerous situation in the first place
Keep in mind that performing kata and practice in live contact are very different things. Confidence in ability b/c you know for a fact you can execute the actions in a contact spar is the better choice v the overconfidence supplied by pure kata performance. Obviously kids under 11/12 shouldn’t be in contact classes.
Someone violated the first rule of Fight Club.
No, it involves CRIMINAL activity and large scale abuse of minors.
Well why the F not?
Who granted schools charter to act as their own little kangaroo court systems?
Have they got prison cells in their basements as well?
This “internal confidential employee student personnel matter” stonewalling shit has gotta stop.
What criminal activity?
The only thing the school said in it’s statement is that they will take action if people try to fight at school (which they should) and that some students created a “very unsafe situation” before classes. They were quite vague. And given this school district’s prior handling of sexual assaults and smearing the father of the girl who was assaulted, I hesitate to believe a thing they say.
Also, if it WAS prosecuted, it seems everyone involved with anything actually at the school is a minor, so most stuff wouldn’t be released by law enforcement either.
Is it just me or is this bit worded in a very strange way:
“This past Friday, we needed to do a “reset” in the morning and ask students to come in, get their things from their lockers, and report directly to advisory without the usual 20 minutes of free time to walk around the school to socialize with friends.”
It’s like school starts and then they give you (in the general sense) free time to do what you want before instruction (advisory?) begins.
When I was in school, there was a start time for school (homeroom, then class from middle school on) and how much free time depended upon how early you showed up.
If people here can’t figure out the difference between school sanctioned and supervised athletic events such as wrestling and a so called fight club (complete with disruption of school routine) I can only shake my head.
Reading between the lines of the school’s statement it may be that some participants in the fight club were drafted without their knowledge. Then there is the whole matter of parent’s betting on the fights.
I do think more outlets for physical even aggressive behavior should be available to students. But this ain’t it.
When we know it was bat shit crazy b/c evidence is presented to establish that v us making suppositions based on very little data then I follow the principle of innocent until proven guilty. For all we know the betting involved the Parents doing push ups assuming that the betting actually occurred.
Parents get to raise their kids. If I send my kid to one style of activity you don’t have to send your kid to it. Jumping to conclusions in a rush to judgement to condemn this before we know the facts isn’t helpful. That’s what the anti 2A folks do every time a group of Parents tries a shooting sports club.
So sending a child to an illicit fight club on school grounds is just another style of activity? I hope the parents that have that view have their lawyer on speed dial. Mind you, if parents wanted to form a fight club sports league or such with such boring details as safety rules and appropriate equipment that would be fine. That is a legit part of child rearing.
We don’t know the structure of the ‘fight club’. Though many sure do like using that label as a pejorative. You seem to assume it’s some sort of out of control situation. For all we know a few Parents got together and are hosting voluntarily, Parent approved, observed and monitored contact self defense.
A few mats, a heavy bag a speed bag, a couple sizes of gloves, headgear and maybe torso gear. It doesn’t take that much stuff to create a safe teaching, training, coaching environment.
Parents are not limited to the offerings of the school district list of extracurricular nor to what activities the local do gooders decide to include in a youth league.
Finally how do we know the kids with ‘bloody faces’ were affiliated with fight club? Maybe maybe not but no evidence has been put forth to prove that. Nor can we rule out the possibility that the kids with ‘bloody faces’ were vicious bullies and were the impetus for the self defense instruction. Perhaps, the victims, now having had instruction, training and practice decided that today they wouldn’t walk away from the bully but instead fight back?
We simply don’t know the facts, background and context. Until we do how about not rushing to judgement?
PS. Just how do you suppose a homeowner’s insurance would react should a child be injured participating in the type of fight club described here while on the property?
Described? Ok since it has been described to your satisfaction enough to start condemning people pleas tell us, while quoting only from the info contained in the article and the news video:
1. How many participants?
2. Ages?
3. Is it co/ed?
4. When did it begin?
5. Reason for creating the group?
6. Name of creator(s)?
7. Purpose of the training?
8. Training Methodology?
9. Are the Parents of participants aware and consenting?
10. Duration of training sessions?
11. Frequency of training sessions?
12. Length of sparing sessions?
13. Is equipment worn during sparing?
14. Is it grappling, striking or combo?
Personally I want more info before I decide anything. Maybe I am biased b/c I was bullied as a kid. Then my Dad, Uncle and Grandfather taught me my brother and cousins all about how to fight both clean and dirty to win the fight by ending it quickly and efficiently without remorse.
I understand about being bullied. That is one major reason I think zero tolerance policies are BS. Your Dad, Uncle, and Grandfather did the right thing. I once told my daughter’s assistant principal that I knew if she defended herself against a bully (who was constantly tormenting her) she would also get suspended. That she had my permission to do so and should the school see fit to call me to take her out of school I would pick her up and take her out for ice-cream.
There is nothing in the article to indicate any of what you asked was part of a fight club. Had it been I would think the parents would quickly set minds at ease and explain how this activity was supervised to assure the children’s safety.
Nor was there any indication these things were not part of the activity. Yet you continue to act as if the media don’t report on it then it didn’t happen or if it did but was curated out then it wasn’t newsworthy. Then you compound that error by placing blind faith in what the school officials are telling us. The same Loudoun County Schools of cover up a rape by a tranny and then blame the Parents for objecting fame. Then sic the DoJ on the Parents for good measure.
You place far too much trust in organizations and industries who have repeatedly shown themselves to be untrustworthy and vindictive.
I’m not sure where you got that from. Are you suggesting that kids were matched against other kids without their knowledge and hunted down to be ambushed by their “opponent” in the hallways? Not how I read it but if that is true then there is a very big problem in that school.
Yes I am suggesting that is a possibility. Mostly because that is how a lot of school fights happen.
huh…when I was a kid we had a “fight club” in a friends garage. Ring, boxing gloves the whole 9 yards. All the neighborhood boys were in on it and we had a blast. The “big kids” weren’t allowed against smaller younger kids, kids were matched according to size etc….
If an activity does not take place on school grounds and is not arranged/coordinated on school grounds, then the school district has no justification for getting involved. Yet another example of government intrusion.
But the problem is that it is spilling over into the school.
Growing up my next door neighbor was a golden glove boxer and had 2 daughters. If any boys got in a fight in his yard he would rope off 4 trees, put gloves on them and referee. He said if you are going to fight in his yard you would do by the rules of boxing. Moms were kind of upset with him, all the dads were like if they are going to fight anyway why not.
So…unofficial fight clubs are extremely common. Especially in middle school; the high schoolers figure out they are strong enough to hurt each other pretty badly.
The parents organizing and betting on it, if true, would be a new one for me.
My kids have participated in “fight clubs” for years. It’s called Martial Arts Classes.
We called it divvying up the chores.
There’s a world of difference between some kids fighting in the bathroom or locker room and a properly moderated match.
I think that may have been forgotten. Also this is middle school the range in sizes/weight makes it even more important that fights/matches are properly moderated.
It used to be that parents would invest in single family homes in the outer suburbs to avoid the behavioral challenges of the inner city. I guess that the problems have extended to reach the outer suburbs now.