In wake of fight, Enochs staff reaffirms Modesto school’s mission to keep students safe

On Friday morning, after students recited the Pledge of Allegiance, Enochs High School Principal Deborah Rowe addressed them over the intercom. She reminded students of the school’s new mission statement, which was presented to them just a month ago on the first day of school.

“Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful.”

They’d been taught how to achieve this mission in a range of settings such as at lunch, in the hallways, in the parking lot and when using social media. They were told to think before posting on social media to protect the privacy of themselves and others and to stay safe on campus by following the school’s zero-tolerance policy against violence or bullying.

But on Wednesday, video of a fight between two girls that landed one in the hospital and the other in juvenile hall was posted on a Twitter account that promotes fights.

And while the video was removed from the site the same day, students continued to talk about it on Twitter, many defending the 16-year-old girl who was arrested as being a victim of bullying.

The girl was booked at Stanislaus County juvenile hall on suspicion of assault causing great bodily injury after the father of the other girl called Modesto police from a local hospital where his daughter was being treated.

Based on the video, the fight went on for at least a minute, with no one attempting to stop it. Rather, at least one person used a cellphone to tape the assault.

A student who tapes a fight could face disciplinary action, said Modesto City Schools spokeswoman Becky Fortuna.

After Rowe spoke to the students Friday, teachers in every class discussed an email she sent about how to be “active bystanders.”

Students were told that if they see a fight happening, they should go get an adult, yell for help, yell for the students to stop or try to separate them.

“A student will not be suspended for physically intervening to stop a fight, as long as the student does not try to stop the fight by joining the fight and becoming an aggressor,” Fortuna said.

They were urged to prevent fights by telling an adult if they overhear or see on social media rumors or threats to other students.

Teachers, too, are told to use their discretion when physically intervening in a fight. If they don’t feel safe, they shouldn’t do it, Fortuna said.

The fight Wednesday ended when two teachers told the girls to stop.

There are five campus supervisors and one school safety officer assigned to zones at Enochs, Fortuna said. The supervisor assigned to the zone in which the fight happened was making rounds inside a building while it was going on outside.

The girls involved in the fight both walked away from it, Fortuna said, so an ambulance wasn’t called, although the parents of the injured girl took her to the hospital.

School staff didn’t call police before the girl’s parents did because administrators still were in the process of investigating the incident, Fortuna said.

She said students and their parents shouldn’t be concerned about the safety of students at Enochs.

“We urge families to be aware of their student’s social media usage and relationships with other students,” she said. “We work to create a culture of respect and responsibility on our campuses and offer a variety of counseling and mediation services to prevent disagreements from becoming physical altercations.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "In wake of fight, Enochs staff reaffirms Modesto school’s mission to keep students safe."