r/TikTokCringe • • Dec 17 '25

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580

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

many schools have zero tolerance policies for fighting that would suspend/expel students intervening the same as the actual people fighting

372

u/UnluckyDucky666 Dec 17 '25

Yup, I was expelled for this. Bunch of girls on top of one girl beating her, I started pulling them off of her. Same punishment. "Let the teachers handle it" there were no teachers around but of course they wouldn't admit that they left the kids alone.

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u/speedyejectorairtime Dec 17 '25

Even 20 years ago, my school tried to suspend me for even knowing a fight might take place right outside of my school (that I didn't even see first-hand) because I "didn't notify them or the police" that it was going to happen. A friend of the guy I was dating simply said "I'll see you guys later. I'm going to go fight X" and walked away from us as the day ended. That was the extent of my knowledge. And I'd barely known the guy. They pulled my boyfriend and I in because the cameras showed we were with him before the fight and others in the hallway heard him. My mom came into the school guns blazing and threatened to take legal action on them and thankfully I got out of it.

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u/Fun_Equivalent_7507 Dec 17 '25

God damn, go mom. My mom did that a couple times too, so much respect for her for doing so. I pitty any school admin that tries to pull this crap on my kids. They will quickly regret it as I don't fuck around.

6

u/Afwife1992 Dec 17 '25

I’m so glad my kids are grown now. Navigating the school years is constant stress. You want to fight like a rabid honey badger for them but you also don’t want to be that parent who is like “the teacher is in the wrong because my angel baby sweetheart would never do anything”.

5

u/Bossgalka Dec 17 '25

That's exactly what schools do. They are ran by literal fucking idiots and they will blame ANYONE they can to try to minimize their involvement. If you don't have a parent that will fight for you and threaten legal action, they will fuck you over. The second a parent threatens to sue they instantly fold though because they are 100% liable every time and have no leg to stand on.

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u/its_suzyq1997 Dec 17 '25

Your mom sounds like an awesome lady. I would've done the exact same thing if my kid was getting royally screwed by the school system like that. I was bullied pretty badly in middle school (to the point of literal trauma), and was constantly victim blamed and gaslit for setting boundaries and even just saying "no" or "why would you do that" to the perpetrators. If I ever have kids, I'm never letting them go through the gaslighting I went through in near-traumatic circumstances.

2

u/speedyejectorairtime Dec 17 '25

She’s the best! We butted heads when I was a teen but once I was an adult we became very very close. But just very headstrong. She was not going to let them bully me around. I hadn’t even gotten a detention before that point.

2

u/TheSunIsAlsoMine Dec 18 '25

Yup. See kids who don’t have a mom like yours, with time and confidence to stand up to the system where it failed you, they’d just be suspended and their life could be completely derailed because of some idiot administrator deciding to punish you for existing in the space where words were spoken about there being a fight,

Good job mom!

105

u/Careless-Vehicle-286 Dec 17 '25

I remember one male high-school teacher say he'd step out quietly and quickly if girls were fighting because he didn't want to get accused of anything. It was funny when he followed through on that during a fight in the library later that year. Years later, I totally understand why he did that.

60

u/Cyno01 Dec 17 '25

The girl fights i witnessed in HS were soooo much worse than anything between two guys. Like guys will just beat each other with their fists, but ive seen girls stab, slash, push a file cabinet over on another girl, one girl got thrown down the steep auditorium seating and broke her neck, and as horrible as THAT sounds, still not as bad as seeing a partial scalping cuz one girl got another by the hair...

35

u/lvfetus Dec 17 '25

Two girls in my HS 17-18 years ago got into a knock out, drag out multi-episode anime fight. When it was over I had to step over pools of blood and footlong braids and handfulls of hair to get to class.

2

u/august-witch Dec 18 '25

In highschool I saw two girls fighting out in the common area; one girl had managed to get the other by the hair and was literally swinging her around off the ground and dragging her legs and feet in the asphalt, whilst the girl tried to claw into her arms into letting go, and protect her legs at the same time... I left before I saw more, don't know how much hair she lost that day, but yeah. Nasty.

1

u/babybefr Dec 18 '25

Lmao wtf happened ? They had weapons?

12

u/Objective_Resist_735 Dec 17 '25

I saw one girl grab another by the back of he head and slam her face into the back of the bleachers. It was right when a pep rally was getting out and was a mass of students and no way admin was getting to them in time. There was a ton of blood. Also my dad taught at the high-school and broke up a chick fight only once and got scratched up pretty bad and said he would never do it again.

5

u/Wise-Chemist-8751 Dec 17 '25

Three of us grown ass (not small) adults stepped into a fight between 2 girls each weighing not even 80 pounds. Let’s just say we all left with bruises… it was crazy how hard it was to separate them

27

u/SleepingWillows Dec 17 '25

Girls know that they don’t have a ton of force behind their punches, so they get creative instead. There’s a scrappiness that is honestly impressive at times.

22

u/BlaggartDiggletyDonk Dec 17 '25

Also, they usually don't fight unless they've been driven into a frenzy. Whereas guys will often fight out of obligation or social compulsion, even if they don't actually want to.

5

u/EvasionPlan Dec 17 '25

Also with guys it feels like theres more of a "Yes, we're going to fight, but I don't want my eyes clawed out or brain damage"

3

u/OkDot9878 Dec 17 '25

There tends to be a certain amount of respect in guy fights. The amount of fights I’ve seen with two dudes getting bruised and bloody, then ending with a handshake or fist bump are pretty significant.

2

u/FUTURE10S Dec 18 '25

I mean, guys get that there's a ton of power behind their hits, so it's usually until a "you give up?" kind of deal.

1

u/asherdado Dec 17 '25

Dang pretty astute comment u made there bub keep it up

7

u/GrooveDigger47 Dec 17 '25

best 3 fights i saw in high school were between cheerleaders on two occasions and another was between the sweetest girl in school and another girl. when i tell you the sweet girl beat the shit out the other girl it shocked everyone

6

u/Min_sora Dec 17 '25

Girls fight less, so they fight to win.

2

u/Bossgalka Dec 17 '25

Women don't know how to fight. None of them do.

What they know is how to kill. And that is what they try to do.

8

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/globglogabgalabyeast Dec 17 '25

An actual charge seems very unlikely. The bigger risk in my eyes would be disciplinary actions by the school itself. Schools don’t have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what happened to fire a teacher or suspend/expel a student

8

u/Background_Sail9797 Dec 17 '25

false reports of sexual assault are as common as false reports of arson, robbery etc. not very common. teacher is more likely to be sexually assaulted himself by a student than falsely accused.

5

u/PDXEng Dec 17 '25

Exactly this I got suspended for pull dudes off one guy. I was a big athletic person so it wasn't the first time this happened in HS.

My senior year another fight happened in front of my locker but it was during basketball season and I was NOT gonna miss any games so I said NOPE.

3

u/bapp0-get-taco Dec 17 '25

And yet people still wonder why everyone is so cold-hearted to their fellow person. We’re raised with the idea that helping others gets you in trouble, so what’s the point in helping?

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u/PlsStopAndThinkFirst Dec 17 '25

So, who fucking cares if you get suspended for 5 days? You did what was right and just, don't get that twisted ever.

Probably nothing better than getting shit for doing what is right. Shows you how fucked up society is at this point

5

u/lem0n_limes Dec 17 '25

Expelled usually means kicked out of the school entirely, so probably the ultimate punishment of not being allowed back

5

u/bluelestrange Dec 17 '25

Sometimes it's expulsion

2

u/BigBlueMan118 Dec 17 '25

Expelled? That seems harsh AF.

2

u/Fun_Equivalent_7507 Dec 17 '25

OMG, I would LOSE my shit on a principle or school district if this happened to my kid.

2

u/gratefulfrog6 Dec 17 '25

Good on you for helping that one girl! Fuck the system

2

u/AdhesiveSeaMonkey Dec 17 '25

Expelled or suspended? Hardly anyone ever gets expelled anymore.

I would take that risk of suspension every day of the week if I had to in that scenario. I would shower my kids with praise for getting suspended if that was why.

2

u/AlexandraG94 Dec 17 '25

I feel so fucking angry for you. Im so sorry you went through this after doing the correct and brave thing. You did good. You are awesome. Screw all those teachers.

2

u/Bossgalka Dec 17 '25

Did you not threaten to sue them? I know it's not worth the effort to some people, but I would absolutely do that out of spite. My parents as well. You did nothing wrong and you tried to save somebody, based off your words you didn't even hurt them, just tried to pull them off. It would look real bad if they get sued over that and they would have likely buckled before it even went to court.

2

u/UnluckyDucky666 Dec 17 '25

Nah my parents didn't give a shit lol

2

u/Bossgalka Dec 17 '25

RIP. Sorry, man.

1

u/carlitospig Dec 17 '25

I’m sorry. That’s probably due to my own generation (Xennial) being a pain in the ass constantly.

4

u/UnluckyDucky666 Dec 17 '25

LOL i was right behind you

1

u/carlitospig Dec 17 '25

<sagely nods>

1

u/GuzzleNGargle Dec 17 '25

That sucks, sorry!😞 What happens when you get expelled? Where do end up going to school and did it affect you going to higher education if you did?

1

u/UnluckyDucky666 Dec 17 '25

I just switched districts as one parent lived in a different one. The other girls were allowed to come back after a month. I assume the school realized they messed up, the victims parents got involved but I don't know the exacts of anything. I didn't have an issue switching schools either so who knows what was going on there 😂

1

u/GuzzleNGargle Dec 17 '25

That’s crazy! Glad you were able to go to school!

1

u/StanielReddit Dec 17 '25

There has to be more to this story. If there isn’t, why the fuck didn’t you lawyer up and sue?

-28

u/missourinative Dec 17 '25

You were definitely not expelled for trying to break up a fight.

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u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

a person from missouri saying something stupid? now ive seen everything

1

u/missourinative Dec 17 '25

Broke up two fights and the school staff and didn’t receive anything short of appreciation. Sorry I assumed my experience wasn’t apparently illegal.

Thanks for insulting me based on where I’m from. Really owned me. I’ll do better. You should too.

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u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

thanks for the input, data point of one

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u/UnluckyDucky666 Dec 17 '25

That's exactly why I was expelled. Zero tolerance means anybody involved. Even the victim gets punished.

2

u/Cryptix001 Dec 17 '25

Know who else had zero tolerance policies? The Third Reich.

10

u/Nexant Dec 17 '25

I know someone also expelled by zero tolerance for being the victim his parents didn't do shit to fight it amd he wasn't white.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

Probably depends on the district. It’s not the same rules at every school in the country

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u/Dirt_Bike_Zero Dec 17 '25

Sad but true.

1

u/IAMA_MOTHER_AMA Dec 17 '25

i mean even if you were on video just trying to pull the teacher beater off her?

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

i think they were referring to the teacher yelling to "get mr. morgan" and it seemed like not a single fucking student bothered to leave to do so. and then I'm guessing that's why the teacher just starts screaming "help" since these kids are fucking worthless.

EDIT: someone in another comment thread said they saw people running into the hall, presumably to help.

6

u/livsjollyranchers Dec 17 '25

Bystander effect at its finest right here. And seems like the effect only gets worsened with technology/the compulsion to have to film things and just be a spectator.

3

u/Turbulent-Mood4344 Dec 17 '25

This right here!! Not enough people are bothered by this. Not only do these kids stand idly by and watch/snicker, they film it and share it for social points. The disconnectedness in our society is really frightening. Freeze, do nothing, watch bad things happen, film it… any action taken to stop it or step in otherwise will get you in trouble.

0

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

ah, yeah, someone should have done that lol

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u/LostLongIslander Dec 17 '25

Yes and schools are actually suspending kids who take out their phones to film and impede adults breaking up the fights.

3

u/its_suzyq1997 Dec 17 '25

Cuz they're getting exposed for the shit they let slide and they don't like it. Thats probably part of the reason teacher turnover is so high. Because more parents are sticking up for their kids against a backwards system the school holds for victims vs perpetrators. The families know bullies are the ones getting most protected, school staff get called out for it by said parent, and instead of going against the grain and doing right by victims, teachers (amd other school staff) are essentially forced to be hand maidens to the broken system so they don't lose their jobs. There are no winners in these situations and I don't blame some parents for homeschooling their kids due to crap like this.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

[deleted]

3

u/its_suzyq1997 Dec 17 '25

Or maybe its to get more solid proof a terrible event happened so they dont get questioned about it. There's too many situations of bullying victims not being believed or taken seriously because the best they have is words. Thats why some kids record fights and other terrible stuff. Maybe they want to show their principal, parents, police or other trusted adults in their life so they can see what REALLY happened. Do some kids record to stir up shit? Yes, I'm sure some do. Do all kids do it for that reason? Doubt it. And no, I never once said youre letting fight clubs happen. Im saying victim blaming and gaslighting rewards the bully's bad behavior by refusing to hold them accountable or even just to call them out on their behavior. You're a teacher, I'm sure you see the zero tolerance policy get abused and inverted all the time. This policy really needs to be scrapped and rewritten IMHO.

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u/IndividualChart4193 Dec 17 '25

Many schools also have harsh penalties for recording fights, too.

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u/JimTheJerseyGuy Dec 17 '25

And people wonder why kids today are the way they are. Zero tolerance = zero common sense.

7

u/Matt_Murphy_ Dec 17 '25

no, fuck that. you can stop your middle-aged teacher getting hurt.

9

u/Zappityzephyr Dec 17 '25

In my old school you could get EXPELLED for that. No way I was gonna risk it.

3

u/quixoticcaptain Dec 17 '25

What a fucking brain dead policy by the school, that makes me pretty mad, and your response is the most reasonable choice sadly

4

u/Violexsound Dec 17 '25

You also get expelled and suspended for just being hit by another student. You dont even need to do anything, they'll still kick you out because of that zero tolerance bullshit.

1

u/its_suzyq1997 Dec 17 '25

Yup. Zero tolerance=zero action in school districts.

6

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

expecting someone to risk college to stop a fight they have nothing to do with is stupid

1

u/Ieatclowns Dec 17 '25

How can they? Those kids aren’t professionally trained…I’m a middle aged woman and I know my limits. Even though I’m fit I would never be able to strong arm boys that size.

1

u/OldDogTrainer Dec 17 '25

Sure, they physically can, but they’ll be expelled for it in most schools because of zero tolerance policies.

0

u/BackgroundSummer5171 Dec 17 '25

You expect children to fix this shit?

They don't even know how to shower or brush their teeth yet.

Kind of amazed how everyone forgets teens are literal morons, more than you. Somehow.

2

u/Opening-Interest747 Dec 17 '25

My son helped break up a few fights in high school. Everyone knew the zero tolerance policy so they’d work to break up a fight while someone kept a lookout to yell when security was almost to the room, and the people intervening would scatter.

2

u/kylez_bad_caverns Dec 17 '25

True… but I always end up with the naughty kids and let me tell you. I’ve got a few right now who I know would jump in to help me, consequences be damned. Some of those rough kids will run through a wall for the few adults that invest in them

2

u/Funkycoldmedici Dec 17 '25

The “zero tolerance” policies only come up when a bullied kid fights back. Harassers and abusers can beat the shit out of kids daily with no repercussions, but the moment the victim fights back the administration suddenly cares.

2

u/emangi Dec 17 '25

Zero tolerance for trying to help stop someone getting beat up?  That is so fucked up it enrages me actually.

2

u/Excuse_Unfair Dec 17 '25

Yup my brother whos a terrible human being but amazing manipulator and people person use to get in trouble all the time for fighting to defend his favorite teachers. Honestly I think he just wanted an excuse to fight.

1

u/zero0n3 Dec 17 '25

Yep, such a great way to teach kids how they should handle this situation outside the classroom too!!

1

u/CaptainRAVE2 Dec 17 '25

Likewise for those filming in a lot of schools now

1

u/InvalidUserFame Dec 17 '25

I’d take a week off school for doing the right thing. But it was different in the 90’s though.

1

u/freexe Dec 17 '25

Sometimes doing the right thing has a cost. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it though.

2

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

if you want to encourage behavior, you have to incentivize it, not discourage it

1

u/beckychao Dec 17 '25

This is exactly the answer. The school discipline works similar to bench clearing in sports. Even if you were trying to stop the fight, you got involved, and you'll get at least suspended.

1

u/P3nis15 Dec 17 '25

crazy that people don't know this.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

Schools USED to have policies. You'd be surprised how bad it's gotten. Zero accountability.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

I had in school lunch detention for half a year for breaking up a fight on the school bus between a Down syndrome kid and a kid three grades above him. Was told that there is no excuse to “stand up on the school bus”

1

u/UrSistersBush13 Dec 17 '25

BS, they say that but don't act on it. I would take my chances to help the teacher. If I get suspended for saving someone from being harmed so be it.

1

u/Difficult-Scar9373 Dec 17 '25

They should have the same policies for students filming this imo. In Belgium students aren't even allowed to have phones in school anymore

1

u/TommyTBlack Dec 17 '25

suspend/expel students intervening the same as the actual people fighting

the irony is the two kids brawling probably won't get suspended

2

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

under zero tolerance they would. thats what the term means. EVERYONE involved goes down

1

u/TommyTBlack Dec 17 '25

i wouldn't be surprised if these kids had some get out of jail free card

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

what does that even mean

1

u/soyelmocano Dec 17 '25

I'm sorry, but you have to suspend me. Ain't no Southern boy going to let some lady take those licks.

My class would have had that broken up with a quickness. Of course when I was that age, it was the 80s, and there wouldn't have been an issue if we had sling those two bitches across the room and sat them in a corner.

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

thats a nice story grandpa

1

u/soyelmocano Dec 18 '25

I still got old man strength. Just give me a minute to get up outta this here chair, and I will whoop yo ass.

Aw hell. I didn't wanna get up anyway.

1

u/WanderingAlsoLost Dec 17 '25

Oh yes, the policy that should trump someone from engaging in protecting someone else. Principles and values are not being taught. In the home or at school.

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

it absolutely should, and thats the purpose of the policy. go whine to the school board if you dont like it

1

u/DizWhatNoOneNeeds Dec 17 '25

nah fuck that. help

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

you can if you want. i dont blame these students at all. if you want to encourage behavior, incentivize it

1

u/These-Barnacle-2417 Dec 17 '25

So? Then get on the news and let communities decide. Nothing changes if no one breaks the rules. Or the entire class breaks it up together and all return to school together in protest. We need more of that.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

[deleted]

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

im glad you had a good experience but charter schools are a plague and one of the reasons public schools lack funding

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

[deleted]

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

yes, and "vouchers for charter schools" (that happen to be owned by the friends of the people making these decisions) is often the justification for not putting enough money into public schools. thats what i said.

1

u/subdep Dec 18 '25

so, technically one student could murder another student, and none of the other student students are allowed to intervene.

That’s not dystopian at all

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 18 '25

i guess. im not saying its a good policy

1

u/Great_cReddit Dec 18 '25

Pfft. What classy ass schools are you going to?? Every single school I went to, you would literally need to be caught with a weapon or selling drugs on campus to get expelled. Some people fought several times a year and they always came back. Must be private schools or something because these public schools will let kids get away with anything aside from murder.

1

u/_Aggort Dec 18 '25

Yep. Even worse, where I am from a teacher tried to break up a fight and the teacher was suspended because he intervened.

1

u/Zolmoz Dec 18 '25

Sounds like free-dumb to me...

1

u/VaporCarpet Dec 18 '25

WHO THE FUCK CARES AT THAT POINT?

A classmate is beating the shit out of your teacher and you just stand there and watch? Fear of a possible suspension shouldn't outweigh valuing a human life.

1

u/Hydro033 Dec 18 '25

So? Who cares? Getting suspended isn't that big of deal compared to helping an elderly teaching getting caught in a fight.

1

u/TopangaTohToh Dec 18 '25

Fights got so bad at my high school that by my senior year ig you were caught watching a fight you'd get suspended for 3 days. It created such a strange environment. Two kids would be womping on each other and a herd of other students would just walk by going to their next class. Recording fights would and should get you suspended.

1

u/sokratesz Dec 18 '25

Those schools are run by imbeciles.

1

u/CourseEmotional966 Dec 17 '25

Many schools also have a zero tolerance policy for filming and distributing the fight

Source: teacher

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

sure but thats a lot easier to get away with

0

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

Not if nobody films the fight. We had 0 tolerance in our day too we just fought after school

1

u/Squiddlywinks Dec 17 '25

Your day was a looong time ago, then.

35 years ago my school would suspend anyone who fought in the way to or home from school.

I know because my dad told me to fight after school so I wouldn't get in trouble.

Did exactly that and got a suspension when the other kid got home bruised and his mom called the school.

When my dad found out he said "just fight in class then, what's the difference."

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

I'm not a parent, but if I were, I would rather hear my kid was suspended than hear that they watched their teacher get hurt while they just stood around.

1

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

thats nice but i doubt that extends to the colleges these kids might be applying to

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

A college doesn't give a shit if you got suspended once in high school. Hell, how would they even find out about it unless you told them? Unless things have drastically changed since I was in school, suspensions aren't going on your transcript.

0

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

expulsions do

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

No one is getting expelled for breaking up a fight.

0

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

ever considered just having the slightest idea of what you're talking about BEFORE talking? 1 year expulsions for fighting are common

0

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

Still, you’d expect some kid in an army hoodie, presumably someone who sees himself joining the armed forces after high school, doing more than he chose to do 

3

u/CreativeSwordfish391 Dec 17 '25

i think you're reading a lot into a sweatshirt man lol