15-year-old Jamarion Lalanne: Tired of the fighting.
While Hamden High juniors were taking their SATs on Thursday, other students displaced from their usual classes crowded the school’s auditorium — until a fist fight involving two students sent an older staff member to the hospital.
According to a letter sent out by Superintendent Jody Goeler, the altercation began shortly before 12:30 p.m.
Video obtained by The Independent shows a large crowd of kids circling around two students who began the fight, cheering them on and recording the action.
During the ruckus, an employee attempting to disrupt the brawl fell to the ground.
“All students are safe,” Goeler reported midday. “Unfortunately, one staff member was injured during the altercation and is being assessed by medical professionals.”
Police were called in to quell the situation — as they have been multiple times throughout this school year in response to behavioral concerns at Hamden High while student arguments and disorderly conduct continue to surge following two years of pandemic schooling.
“Hamden High School administration is currently investigating this matter and following up with the students who were involved,” Goeler stated.
Ninth-graders Terran Johnson, Noah Torres and Travon Moye were in the auditorium when things got heated.
“They was just pushing each other, and then they started fighting,” one stated. At least 100 students, they estimated, were in the school theater — “Everybody had their phone out.”
The trio said they were in the auditorium because their math class was canceled to make room for student testing. They said they remained in the theater for an additional 40 minutes following the fight because of a stay in place order.
That was the second fight they had observed while in school that day. Earlier that morning, the 14 and 15-year-olds said, a pair of teens got into a confrontation during the passing time between first and second periods.
One of the students said that he doesn’t mind the fights.
“It makes me happy,” he stated.
Why? “I just like seeing them fight.”
“Bro, what?” His friend responded.
A fourth friend, who declined to offer her name, offered an analysis: “People do be liking when fights happen ‘cause it gets them out of class,” she said.
Sophomore Jamarion Lalanne disagreed.
“It’s unneeded and unnecessary,” he said. “There’s really too many fights.”
Lalanne said the number of violent altercations that he has witnessed or heard about have increased significantly this school year over the previous one.
“What’s with the freshmen?” he questioned. “They’ve got too much energy. The social cues are definitely lacking.”
“Me, on the other hand, I avoid people. I’m over here avoiding people, avoiding drama. I’m kinda nocturnal. I be sitting in the darkness and I be vibing.”
Lalanne said he didn’t have opinions on how administration should be responding to growing behavioral concerns among younger students.
“It’s bound to happen. We really can’t control it,” he asserted.
Current measures taken by the district, like implementing metal detectors, Lalanne said, seem fruitless.
“Metal detectors don’t detect, you know, a fist,” he said with a laugh. “They don’t detect the malicious intent people got.”