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Teachers Criticized For Not Breaking Up School Fights

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) -  Cell phone video shot by students at Lang Middle School in the Dallas Independent School District is disturbing parents on two levels:  One, kids are fighting.  Two, no adults intervene.

DISD calls the video evidence of adult apathy and leaders there are investigating.

The aunt of one of kids in one of the videos calls it, "sickening."

Tranise Smith saw her nephew in one Wednesday night.

"The first thought in my mind when I saw that video, ramming my nephew's head in the locker room, what if he would've been left dead there," says Smith.

The 11-year-old, a new student to the campus Smith says, couldn't back down from the pressure of being forced to fight, because the students know the adults in the building aren't watching.

"There were no adults around, no adult supervision," says Smith.

On social media sites YouTube and Facebook, the Lang Middle School fights, as they're called, are posted for anyone to see.  But in every violent video recorded on student's phones, teachers, staff or campus security presence is unseen.

School district officials say they too want answers as to why fight videos in the school gym or bathrooms have plenty of kids, but no adults.

"They admit in lapses in coverage of students and that is unacceptable," says Andre Riley, a DISD spokesperson.  "We cannot have our students placed in environment where they contribute to this kind of activity."

"Kids shouldn't come here concerned about 'am I going to attacked, assaulted.'  They're coming here for an education," says Smith.

DISD requested the removal of the Lang fight videos from YouTube and they are now gone.

The district also issued a letter to parents about the videos and CBS 11 found several of them on the ground outside the school torn up.

 

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