Dispute at Moose Jaw High School ends in controversy and fear among students

A fight between students at AE Peacock Collegiate in Moose Jaw this week created a tense atmosphere and left some students feeling anxious.

A video of the incident is circulating at the school. It shows two students in a verbal argument before the assistant principal steps in to break up the fight. Students say a physical altercation occurred before the video was taken.

While there is debate about whether the vice principal used the right tactics to end the fight, students feel divided.

Scout Panko is a senior at the school.

“I'd say it's about three-quarters and a quarter, with a quarter thinking there's something deeper to it,” she said, referring to the vice principal. “I don't think there's really anything else he could have done.”

According to student Kate Hansen, the video did not show another teacher trying to break up the fight, but the students continued to scream and curse.

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“It's really a big problem … it just divides students,” Hansen said.

Julia Zinn is a student at Peacock School. She says it is a big challenge to avoid bullying.

“There are a lot of different cultures and a lot of different types of people, so it's really hard to keep everything intact and under control,” Zinn explained. “There's been a lot of bullying in the last three years I've been here.”

“I was bullied myself. Nothing is ever really done about it.”

Moose Jaw police confirmed they responded to an altercation between two students on Tuesday afternoon.

“Police are investigating the incident and are fully cooperating with the Prairie South School Division,” said Jay-D Haughton, communications manager for the Moose Jaw Police.

Global News has reached out to the school district for comment on the matter, but was told the district was unavailable for comment.

Samantha Becotte, president of the Saskatchewan Teachers Union, said situations like this show why the complexity of teaching is a problem across the province.

“Teachers have it really tough,” Becotte said. “They're trying to meet the needs of students, but as students' needs become more diverse and significant, and the support available in schools to meet those needs becomes less and less, it's becoming more and more difficult.”

In her opinion, one of the solutions to prevent violence is to reduce class sizes and have more educational assistants and counselors on site.

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