Children fighting video
In the video, you can clearly see three young kids violently fighting one another with fists and force, while a group of adults looks on cheering, laughing and encouraging the fight. My heart aches even more when one young boy cries at the 10-second mark after he is punched multiple times and pushed into a parked car. His little cry reminds me how young he really is. He sounds just like my son.
Police in Wilmington, Delaware, are investigating this alarming footage that was brought forward by a 6 ABC Action News viewer. The news team made the video public after it was posted to the station's official Facebook page. Police are currently trying to identify the negligent adults in the video and ask that any information be directed to the Wilmington Police Department at (302) 576-3990.
I am a mother of two boys, so I am more than familiar with the "boys will be boys" trope. My two toddlers are still young, so they don't fully grasp physical violence. They still slap each other over toys and cry when they don't get their way.
But I have never cheered on their violence. I have never laughed and taken pictures when they got hurt. Not only is this adult attitude cold-hearted and damaging to these young kids, but it is directly reinforcing violence.
There are no two ways about it. When adults gather around small children and encourage them to fight, we are setting ourselves back as a parenting community. These adults may think that it is all in good fun and boys are going to fight anyway, but they are wrong.
These boys are going to go to school, and they are going to think it's OK to use physical force when interacting with classmates. Why wouldn't they? In a best-case scenario, a small scuffle may be broken up on the playground. In a worst-case scenario, these kids will grow older and continue to react violently with the potential to seriously hurt another student.
This video is almost too disturbing to watch. Shame on these parents.
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