Students hold 'fight week' at Brevard County school

Social media prompts lockdown at Merritt Island High School

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – Merritt Island High School was placed on a code red lockdown Thursday afternoon because of disruptions caused by social media about a "fight week" at the school,  officials said.

The lockdown was implemented by the school as a precautionary measure, according to Brevard County Schools.

A rumor was spreading through the school by social media about a "fight week" at Merritt Island High School.

"The way we're understanding it is, the rumor was that it if the school had eight fights in one week, then there would be a week of school off," district spokeswoman Michelle Irwin said.  "That is not true, but kids were trying to stage some things to try to get that to happen."

Students remained in their classes until the school day ended.

The Merritt Island Fight Club Twitter page was created on Thursday and an anonymous student wrote "we may not have got a week of school off, but we still succeeded in 3 periods of no school today."

"It really caused some disruptions today. The principal, in conjunction with the superintendent, decided to leave students in classrooms to get this kind of settled down," Irwin said.

Students tell Local 6 they recorded several fights, which broke out in the cafeteria, in the halls between classes and after school, on their cellphones.

"I feel like my daughter is in a zoo," said mother April Rumbaugh, who came to pick up her daughter early after getting a recorded message from the school's principal Thursday afternoon.

"In consultation with the north area office, we have called a lockdown for the remainder of the day," said Merritt Island High School Principal Carol Green.

There is no school in Brevard County on Friday, and Green urged parents to discuss with their children the consequences of being involved in fights.

Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.


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