Boys will be boys

Most of us know what the first, and second, rules of Fight Club are. But for those who don’t, the first and second rules are, “You don’t talk about Fight Club.” Apparently this rule was not known to a group of Cheldelin Middle School boys of Corvallis, Oregon.

On Friday, May 14, it was made known to officials of the Corvallis School District that twenty boys—nineteen eighth-graders and one seventh-grader—were participating in an organized fight group held after school in one of the building’s bathrooms. The fights had taken place at least three known times and the participants recorded their fights on cell phones and in a notebook they kept hidden in some of the ceiling tiles of the bathroom, where the fights were conducted.

Various degrees of discipline have been carried out depending on a participant’s involvement, with boys who only watched receiving a lighter penalty.

“It is probably a miracle nobody got seriously hurt,” Principal Lisa Harlan told the Gazette-Times. “It’s hard to make sense of. Their intent wasn’t to hurt one another—in fact, they’re all friends with each other. They described it to me as fun.”

The fact that the boys thought of the activity as “fun” would bring the conclusion of “boys will be boys.” The principal also reported that there was no sign of “malicious intent” or any signs of gang affiliation. But a few questions still linger: what was the boys’ inspiration for such an activity; how could an activity like this go unnoticed on school grounds; how did parents not know where their children were; and what other after-school activities could the boys have been enrolled in instead?

Since the movie in question is rated R, one could only hope that the boys did not get this idea from the film, but in this day and age, you never know. Principal Harlan hypothesized that the boys may have gotten the idea from “bad reality TV.”

In looking into what Cheldelin Middle School has to offer their students, a parent might be very impressed. They still offer outdoor school to their sixth-graders, a program that is almost extinct. They still offer the program TAG for mathematically gifted students. Cheldelin offers an “Early Bird French Class” for students who want to learn about the language and culture. As far as sports are concerned, Cheldelin offers after-school track in the spring for all students wanting to participate; however, due to budget cuts it is the only sport offered. But, a list of community sports and activities, i.e., Boys & Girls Club, City Parks and Recreation, etc., is given to parents in the school’s handbook that is also available online, linked to the school’s web page.

The economy is miserable, the divorce rate in this country is high, most families require a two-person income and there are plenty of single parents having to work two jobs. There are plenty of reasons a child can go unattended and by the time a child reaches middle school, they are at a legal age to be left at home alone. However, it doesn’t excuse the parent for not taking an interest in their child, from not knowing where their child was and what they were doing.

The incident at Cheldelin seems to have been caught quickly and taken care of before anyone got seriously injured. Fighting can be a healthy outlet for a boy when in a proper setting such as boxing or martial arts. Unfortunately, the general public is still left with unanswered questions; we can only hope that those involved have learned from their mistakes. We’re all only human after all.