LYNN -- Twenty-nine Lynn English High School students have been suspended and more could face disciplinary action as the city continues to investigate a fight between two girls that was refereed and videotaped by students, who did nothing to stop it -- even when one girl’s head was slammed into a stone wall.
Lynn Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who is also the chair of the city’s school committee, said all 29 students are also required to do a research paper on the 1964 murder of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, whose shouts for help went unanswered as she was murdered in New York City.
Kennedy said the two combatants were suspended for five days and students who refereed or videotaped the violent struggle were handed three-day suspensions. Onlookers were given one-day suspensions, she said.
“I thought the punishments were all very fair,’’ Kennedy told reporters this afternoon. “I’m hoping everybody can get past this, and I hope we can get on with the business of teaching children.’’
Asked what she found most disturbing about the fight, Kennedy said she was stunned “that kids could watch this and be so immune to it.’’
She added, “No one was being affected, even when the girl’s head was being struck into a stone wall.’’
She said she hoped the research paper on the Genovese killing, a notorious example of urban indifference to neighbors, will leave a lasting impression on the children.
“I hope that it is not only something that they will write about, but will remember,’’ she said.
But as the high school ended its day today, several students said the lesson they have learned is to avoid going to fights and, by doing so, to avoid getting into trouble at school or at home.
“It was dumb. It was dumb,’’ said Selena DePena, a 10th-grader suspended for one day. “I wish I wasn’t even there. ... I’m in trouble. My mom said whoever was there should definitely get in trouble.’’
None of the students interviewed said they would try to prevent any future fight from taking place, or step in to break up one. Some students who were at the fight said they feared any intervention would be seen as an aggressive act by friends of the combatants, and the fight would then grow into a brawl.
The students also said the now-infamous video of the fight, which was posted to YouTube, was edited to make the violence more horrific. They also said some adults were on hand, but they also did not step in to halt the fight.
They said the fight was mostly hair-pulling between the two girls, and that neither of them suffered injuries that caused bleeding.
In addition to the school discipline, the two girls could face criminal charges in Lynn Juvenile Court, according to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.
John R. Ellement can be reached at
ellement@globe.com.
