Remember how a few years ago we wrote about NZ parents organising after school fights for their kids to sort out playground squabbles? Well, the kids are making their own arrangements now – using social media to organise fight events.

Two police officers were driving past a mass brawl in Manurewa on Thursday and tried to break up a fight between approximately 15 school girls.

Police said the fights were organised on Facebook and was “part of the growing problem of online youth crime” in New Zealand. A crowd of onlookers (mostly young males) stood by and jeered as the police struggled to bring the fight under control.

But as any parent knows, fights in New Zealand are commonplace. Social media is making them more noticeable and harder to ignore (scroll down to the bottom of this page to see more about other fights). New Zealand isn’t such a ‘great place to raise kids’ perhaps?

Not the first time high school fight footage found online 

This is not the first time footage of fights involving high school students has appeared online. Last month a mob of schoolboys from three different schools turned on a 19-year-old who was picking his little sister up from school, when he tried to stop them attacking a younger student.

Two students aged 17 and 18 were charged with assault for their part in a 60-student fracas between students from De La Salle and St Paul’s colleges at Orakei Train Station last month.

In May, a 15-year-old girl was arrested following an assault in Kaikohe that was filmed and posted online. The assault happened at the bus depot on the corner of Mangakahia Rd and Broadway, Kaikohe.

In March, footage showed a girl crying as she was hit by another girl, before the fight was eventually broken up by bystanders… source

Manurewa High School’s deputy principal Pete Jones seemed keen to absolve the school of any moral obligation, despite the fight involving mostly female students from his school.

“It’s not a Manurewa High School issue, it’s not a police issue, it’s a community issue,”…

…The brawl broke out in a carpark just a few hundred metres from the school campus. Police say one of the girls has been referred to youth aid and they are now working closely with the high school. source

While people involved with the school were concerned about their image, the world’s press were busy publishing footage of the video…

The Daily Mail – UK

A fight between more than ten high school students after they organised a mass brawl on Facebook has been captured on camera. Between 10-20 girls kick and punch one another and throw others to the ground in video of the all-out fight in Auckland, New Zealand. Despite being separated by two police some fighters return to the fray, even attacking girls who are being held back by officers.

Onlookers crowd around and join in as the fight is recorded using a cell phone…About 50 people arrived to watch or participate in the fight, which took place about 1.30pm on Thursday, on Browns Rd, Manurewa. source

The Daily Mirror – UK

Vicious Brawl – 7News Sydney.

School fights between girls have been filmed in New Zealand ever since the advent of the camera phone, they seem to be something of a spectator sport. Here’s one from 2013

Comments by the TradeMe.co.nz community about the fight provide an insight into how mainstream NZ felt about the brawl…http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=1577748&topic=5 (for the record, there are also plenty of fights on Youtube involving ‘white’ children in NZ).

huntlygirl wrote The same thing happened at Papakura high school on Tuesday.

specialk11 wrote: take a look every time this sort of behaviour erupts and you will find it’s usually Maori and PI kids….is this a cultural thing? go to the web site….only kiwis will get this……it’s a Facebook page that shows the fight uncensored

debmus wrote: Okay… Now I have seen the video and it is quite different to a normal fight, the police are stuck in the middle of it and the kids don’t give a crap!

chats55 wrote: Normal day in Absurdistan

whqqsh wrote:  the whole place is turning into a zoo. I had the misfortune of having to catch a train in South Auckland one day this week, the platform was full of idiots school blazers & uniform smoking, giving american style gang signs, going out of their way to intimidate those they thought they could, spitting constantly… the whole screen was a disgrace.  The train was 20 minutes late (surprised anyone?) so I amused myself by watching the almost David Attenborough type situation watching a very basic type of primitive hierarchy unfolding in front of me as individuals or small groups came & went.
Society certainly going backwards… just a few more years & we’re outta here!!

esky-tastic wrote: Who would accept the bunch of feral lardy-arsed KFC munchers that were involved???? – They’ve probably peaked in life unless you’re talking about having illegitemate pie-balled kids.

oliver6 wrote: I haven’t seen any photos so I do not know who they were. However, my reaction is to deport them

martmart1 wrote: What country can we deport New Zealanders to?

tigerlilly99 wrote: Parents aren’t being parents anymore. Can’t blame the school cause their hands are basically tied by do-gooders and PC crap. I really think some people shouldn’t be parents because their crappy attitude passes to the next generation.

Related stories

In late July, mayhem broke out at Orakei train station when about 60 students from St Paul’s College and De La Salle College met to fight over an image posted on Facebook.

The brawl, that kicked off about 4pm, delayed trains at a busy commuter time and frightened bystanders…

Tensions between some students at the schools have continued to build after the fight and a third school has been pulled into melee, which started over a photo of one school’s rugby jersey being given a “rude gesture” by a student from a rival school…

“Someone made a rude gesture to a ruby jersey online, which is ridiculous when you think about what has happened to these young guys.

“The sad thing for these kids is they thought it was something worth fighting for…source

Riot involving 70 youths at Auckland’s Britomart train station after the Christmas in the Park celebration.