Batavia City School District officials are trying to use the posting of a video on Facebook of two middle school girls fighting as a "teachable moment," according to Deputy Superintendent Christopher Dailey.
He met with reporters from area TV stations Friday afternoon to answer questions.
Dailey admitted there were things he would rather do on his Friday afternoon than meet with the media over a little dust-up involving student conduct, but was hopeful that lessons can be learned from the incident.
"It's a teachable moment about what not to do on Facebook," Dailey said. "Unfortunately, in this day and age when something is out there online, it doesn't go away, even though we acted very quickly to get it removed.
"There is the potential for ongoing (problems). We don't want anything out there to come back and harm kids later on."
Getting the "Batavia Fights" page removed from Facebook was a combined effort involving the school district, Batavia PD, along with the cooperation of the parents of the child who created the page and the staff at Facebook, Dailey said.
"In this case, somebody let us know last night (about the video)," Dailey said. "Even if we hadn't learned about it last night, we would have found out about it today. We have wonderful kids in Batavia. We have kids who really care about their community."
There is a constant effort in the schools, Dailey said, to educate children about the pitfalls of online behavior.
"It's a new media and we try to teach them the right way to handle it," Dailey said.
The district is still investigating the incident and officials have yet to determine if the fight was staged for the benefit of a video camera or if it was a spontaneous fight.
Two middle school girls were involved in the fight and they suffered minor bumps and scrapes, according to Dailey.
At this time, officials don't believe the fight was related to any specific ongoing bullying issue, but officials were concerned that if the video stayed on Facebook, it might lead to harassment and bullying.
The fight occurred just after dismissal at the middle school, Dailey said, and in the 26th second of the video, a teacher at the school is seen arriving and intervening.
"Facebook is a blessing and a curse," Dailey said. "I used it for the reunion of my high school class and it was wonderful. When not used correctly, it can be hard for kids to handle."
The video was captured by WBTA's Geoff Redick before it was removed. The version below was altered by Redick to obscure the faces of the youngsters involved.
Why is it so bad that it's
Why is it so bad that it's posted on facebook but OK to post here and have it everywhere else played on the news?
I can't believe that both
I can't believe that both WBTA & The Batavian would purposely go against the wishes of the police, school district, & parents of the children involved & post this video. It's not about obscuring the faces......it's about responsible reporting!
I hope this video will be taken down. We know there's aggression in the schools. Let's not perpetuate it by making celebrities out of the offenders, disrespecting the wishes of those involved, & trying to make a splash locally by employing "National Enquirer" journalism standards.
Batavia is better than this & deserves better than this..........
Steve, a lot of assumptions
Steve, a lot of assumptions there. Neither the police nor the school nor anybody else ever suggested the video is not a legitimate part of the news story.
The video is an essential part of the story. We used it. It stays.
The issue is not if the video
The issue is not if the video is a legitimate part of the story. The issue is the lack of respect for the wishes of the people involved. It's pure sensationalism. What's next? Will we be releasing the names of the deceased in a tragedy before the families are notified?
While there are many times to say no to the authorities in the name of freedom of the press, this doesn't appear to be one of them in my opinion.
Steve before you voice your
Steve before you voice your opinion, please be ready to point out where police, parents or the school district indicated that they wanted this video removed from the internet. Looking back on the stories here and in other media the school district plainly said that they dont have the any control over this posting, and police said it really couldnt be removed because it's not legal.
On another note even though it has been removed from Facebook, you are aware I'm sure that it is still in the public domain as the video was uploaded to youtube which is a completly different service from facebook.
Again here we have people being drama kings, trying to bully the Batavian into choosing it's content based on their own personal moral views, and to do so they use bigoted opinions and verbal jabs they think will sting those in control of the sites. To me it looks like they are the ones that encourage irresponsible reporting by editing content to censor certain parts of the story. I think Batavia gets the very best with it's local coverage by the Batavian, if you dont like it's coverage maybe you can start your own online newspaper and see how well it work for you and the public.
So I suppose a local
So I suppose a local contractor whom gets arrested in the comission of a crime, and his victim who was embarassed. Wishes not to have their story reported in the news then we are supposed to respect those wishes and not report it.
Or lets say some scam artists are going around soliciting donations for a phony charity, but the victims decide that they feel stupid and therefore dont want to be reported in the paper, we just squash that story then out of respect for those involved with the story?
Steve, your comment that some
Steve, your comment that some how publishing this video is some sort of slippery slope toward publishing the names of the deceased before the family is notified is outlandish. Talk about over-the-top sensationalism. There's no correlation whatsoever.
There is absolutely no lack of respect for the wishes of the people involved because there has been absolutely no suggestion from any of the parties involved that The Batavian and WBTA shouldn't publish the video. Your statements in this regard, as I said above, are completely without merit.
I'm 100-percent comfortable with how The Batavian has handled this story.