TOP STORY: Schoolyard video nasty sparks call for controls

A Bay college battling to remove footage of a violent fist-fight on school grounds from the internet says technology is increasingly being used against students and staff.
The 17-second video clip, posted on the internet site YouTube.com, showed two junior Tauranga Boys' College students wrestling and trading blows before a male teacher jumps in to break up the fight.
The school has been fighting for weeks to remove the clip from several websites and YouTube.com finally removed the footage yesterday _ but not before it had been viewed more than 3300 times.
It was one of seven New Zealand school fights posted on YouTube.com this week.
Family Help Trust chairwoman Annabel Taylor said the clips represented the worst aspects of bullying and Bay principals say it highlights the growing abuse of values and privacy.
Tauranga Boys' College is now seeking community feedback on ways to prevent teens from using technology inappropriately.
Deputy principal Rob Naumann said the school had been battling to remove the clip from the internet after it surfaced about three weeks' ago.
"The guy who [filmed it] sent us an email saying `ha ha, you can't close me down'," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"We've managed to get it off three of four different servers but obviously it has resurfaced again."
There was "vicious intent" behind the posting of the clip on the internet, he said.
"While appropriate disciplinary action was taken against the boys involved in the incident, the film has remained within the public domain despite attempts by college staff to have it removed."
Banning cellphones _ many of which can film short videos _ entirely was not feasible as many parents wanted to communicate with their sons during the day.
"The current policy of allowing phones on-site provided that they are turned off and in the bottom of the student's bag, seems to be a common-sense approach which could now be at risk," he said.
Mr Naumann said it was quite possible teachers had been deliberately set up or incidents staged simply for web publication.
"Sporting and social events are sometimes targeted as rich targets for photographs to be taken without permission and then published in totally inappropriate forums ... The values of society are now being stretched and schools and their communities in particular, need to consider how best they can deal with the issue where cellphone use has become cellphone abuse."
Mount Maunganui College principal Terry Collett said strong parental discipline was needed to curb the trend.
"It's a gutless thing because they can do it in the privacy of their own home and no one knows about it," he said.
He said that one student had posted something about a fellow pupil on the internet but would not disclose the details. The offending student was made to front up to his victim and apologise.
Te Puke High School deputy principal David Crone also urged parents to take action: "Check what your children are doing upstairs, don't just assume what they are doing on the internet it's a never-ending complexity that we face now with young people in that they are internet savvy. And it's not just internet but technology in general."
Pauline Cowens, principal of Tauranga Girls' College, said the internet was a wonderful tool but the technology available was well ahead of most teenagers' development in social skills.