(NewsNation) — Videos of fights breaking out at high schools across the country have been caught on camera showing parents and fans storming bleachers and jumping into fights, causing melee at basketball games.
In the latest incident, Star Spencer High School and Tulsa Central High school girls’ basketball teams played each other in the playoffs at Morris High School Friday night.
It’s unclear what started the fight, but school officials said it began between two players.
Video shows several players, cheerleaders, fans and even parents fighting on the court after the basketball game ended.
One player is seen thrown to the ground by either a parent or fan.
Also, a woman is seen running across the court to hit another parent or fan.
In El Paso, Texas, a video of parents involved in a fight at a Pebble Hills High School basketball game circulated on social media.
Security was present at the game but had to call the police for backup to break up the fight. Now, they’re increasing law enforcement presence at games
In Vermont, authorities are investigating the death of a 60-year-old man who died in January after a fight broke out among spectators at a middle school basketball game in Alburgh.
Russell Giroux, 60, of Alburgh, sought medical attention after the brawl and was taken by ambulance to the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police said the results of an autopsy performed were “pending further investigation,” including toxicology testing.
Meanwhile, Dr. Norman Fried, a psychologist, told NewsNation that another factor is that parents face a lot of pressure and they’ll do anything to protect their kids or make sure they are successful, especially if they never got that chance to be the star on the court themselves.
There’s also the cost of sports and the possibility of a scholarship, so parents lash out if they see a call they don’t like. However, this sets a really bad example for students.
“When a parent as a child, their needs weren’t met, they didn’t achieve the level of success they hoped to, they put their child on that ladder and they become very introspective and they get involved to the point when they cross the boundary,” Fried said.
He added: “I see all the time in my practice teenagers despondent in the way their fathers, mothers respond to a play in the game they have just made. It creates a tremendous sense of insecurity. many of my patients feel like they aren’t good enough in their parent’s eyes.”
Fried said coaches need to step in on this, to set the tone and create boundaries for their players and the fans.
All of this comes with consequences — schools investigate and can impose discipline on students, spectators can be banned from games and sometimes charges are filed.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, 50,000 referees have quit their jobs because they don’t want to deal with unruly parents anymore, according to a recent study by the National Federation of State High School Associations.