Beyond Entertainment: Adolescents, Trauma, and the Social Meaning of School Fight Recordings

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Approaches and Challenges to Youth Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Drawing on trauma theory, this study investigates the emotional and psychological motivations why students at an urban school record and share school fight videos. While many students describe fights as “entertaining,” findings from surveys and interviews reveal deeper meanings. Having been exposed to chronic violence, many students have normalized school fights. Recording videos serves not to glorify conflict but to gain emotional distance and a sense of control. Videos also foster peer connection and shared meaning-making. Rather than signs of apathy, these practices reflect adaptive responses to trauma. This study challenges deficit-based interpretations of youth behavior and calls for trauma-informed school policies that support emotional regulation, student agency, and healthier social engagement in contexts shaped by normalized violence.

Authors

• Lijuan Shi, Bard High School Early College

• Kym Sturdivant, DC Public Schools

• arahv Magine, Bard High School Early College DC

• Nia Arrington, Bard High School Early College DC

• Jiaxuan Zong, University of Maryland