After a fight video captured by a cellphone was posted on the internet, P.E.I.'s Eastern School Board is moving ahead quickly with new rules to ban the use of cellphones in schools.

'Two years ago we wouldn't have had any incidents like this happening. We've had several this year already.'—Superintendent Sandy MacDonald

School district superintendent Sandy MacDonald said the use of cellphones to capture video has quickly become a serious problem.

"It's become very common, as a matter of fact. It's just happened in the last year, year and a half," MacDonald told CBC News Wednesday.

The grainy video was viewed more than 200 times before it was taken down Tuesday night.
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"Two years ago we wouldn't have had any incidents like this happening. We've had several this year already."

MacDonald said the problem goes beyond the posting of fight videos. Pictures of students are being posted with comments on their appearance, and teachers are being surreptitiously recorded in class and the video posted with accompanying commentary.

"[It's] really having a seriously negative impact on our schools," said MacDonald.

The latest incident was a clip featuring two junior high school girls fighting in the parking lot of MacDonald's on University Avenue. It was posted Sunday and was viewed hundreds of times before it was taken down.

Police have copy of video

Police are investigating. They have a copy of the video, and are trying to determine if the fight was consensual or if there are grounds for assault charges or for disturbing the peace. The mother of one of the girls involved says the fight was arranged on the internet messaging service MSN.

Deputy police chief Richard Collins said police are investigating possible charges of assault and disturbing the peace.
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"Looking at the video that's on Google it seems to be a form of entertainment, more so than anyone was actually disturbed," said deputy police chief Richard Collins.

While the fight did not take place on school property or during school hours, the school is still dealing with the fallout.

"We have talked to the girls involved and their families and we're working on projects for both families and kids," said MacDonald.

"It takes an inordinate amount of time on the school staff and the teachers and the board staff to deal with these issues but we do have some interventions in place right now."

Other schools have bans in place

Some high schools in the province have taken it upon themselves and banned electronic devices. The Eastern School District will soon have rules for the whole region.

School district superintendent Sandy MacDonald said schools will be cracking down hard on the use of cellphone cameras and other digital devices.
(CBC)

"[We have] an administrative set of rules we're going to be implementing in the next week to 10 days, talking about the use of these electronic devices in schools," said MacDonald, "and we're going to crack down really hard on their use during school days."

The mother of one of the girls in this fight appears in the video. She was contacted by CBC News but declined to be interviewed.

The video of the fight was taken down Tuesday night, but not before it was viewed more than 200 times.