Students spread video of girl getting bashed

Cellphone footage of fights in the schoolyard can lead to embarrassment and compromise careers years down the track, says the sergeant in charge of Youth Services in Hastings, Ross Stewart.
Just look at Australian model Lara Bingle for proof that old footage can come back to haunt, after nude photos taken of her in 2006 resurfaced publicly.
Mr Stewart said a total ban on mobile phones, like that put in place at Hastings Girls' High School, was the way to go.
His comments came after a fight between students from Rotorua Girls' High School was filmed on a cellphone, shared from phone to phone and posted on YouTube.
Students there said videos of fights were being sent to their phones every week. The victim said it was scary knowing someone could have the video forever.
Mr Stewart said Hawke's Bay students needed to be aware such footage could reappear many years later.
In the case of school fights, not only the victim would suffer, but the instigator.
"Cellphones can be used to very destructive levels," he said.
"You make the dumb mistake now but let's say in 10 years you stand for Parliament. You never know where these kids are going to be in 20 years time, what organisation they will be working for and the standards they will be held to.
"You take the model in Australia. Her photograph will now go round and round the world for the next 60 or 100 years. That's what these kids don't understand, it can haunt you for the rest of your lives."
In 2007, a Hastings teenager was sentenced to 200 hours' community work for organising a fight with a student at his school who had bullied his brother. He posted footage of the fight on YouTube where it was accompanied by rap music and viewed 100 times before it was removed.
Hastings Girls' High School has had a school-time ban on cellphones for several years. If a girl is caught using one, it is confiscated and the school calls her parents. Acting principal David Carmody said no incidence of cellphone bullying had been reported in school time.
Mr Stewart encouraged other schools to adopt a similar stance.
"The policy is very clear and there is no room for negotiation," he said. "I think kids need things in black and white."
By and large, most Hastings schools had a "good grasp on trying to control their school environment".
A Rotorua student who was kicked in the head and dragged along the ground by her hair by a group of girls is angry that a video of the attack is making its way around the city.
The victim didn't know the fight was filmed until it was sent to students' phones.
 She knew it was sent to Western Heights High School students.
Former Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said last year mobile phones were not only being used to post negative messages but to quickly gather large numbers of students to watch fights. They were also being used to film altercations so victims could potentially be victimised repeatedly.