South Bend school districts warn students to avoid fighting

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Three fights in South Bend Community Schools have taken place since doors opened last week.

Abc57 News pushed the district to tell us what is being done to address the fights across the district, with three different videos surfacing since the start of the school year.

Fights have been breaking out across South Bend High Schools, specifically at Washington and Riley schools recently. In these videos sent to Abc57 News, you can see two fights with punches thrown and one student was handcuffed.

“If you’re going to act outside of that then you will have to deal with the ramifications. And while we want to make sure our students are getting the social and emotional help they need, if you misbehave there are consequences for that,” said Todd Cummings, superintendent of South Bend Community Schools.

The district, with the help of their Student Resource Officers or SRO, shared they're trying to get ahead of the problem before it starts. They're using their Title IX coordinator to de-escalate conflicts before they turn physical.

Strategies included: small group interventions, addressing social and emotional needs, and a response plan with the student that applies for both in and out of the classroom.

“Feel unsafe or have a concern there’s a switch on our website to report. We have updated, we’ve upgraded our protocols. We’ve added security guards." said Todd Cummings.

"We’ve added weapons detection systems. We’ve added new cameras. And we want to make sure all of our students are safe, but we also want to make sure they feel a sense of belonging.” Cummings stated.

The district did tell us they believe student fights are a problem for lots of school districts, not just South Bend.

We're working to find out if South Bend Police are investigating these incidents caught on video.