Life

Florida Teacher Accused of Organizing Fight Club in Middle School Classroom

A Florida teacher has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after allegedly coordinating and overseeing fights among sixth graders.

classroom for fight club story
Image via Getty/Meredith Work/EyeEm
Getty

A teacher in Florida was charged with four counts of contributing to child delinquency for allegedly organizing something of a fight club in her own classroom.

According to WCTV, a school resource deputy at Griffin Middle School first became aware of the reported brawls, orchestrated by 23-year-old sixth grade teacher Angel Footman, in late March. School administrators eventually viewed videos of the alleged fights, which appeared to show Footman sitting on her desk and merely observing.

At least three administrators claim Footman can be heard in these videos, saying “stop pulling hair” and “break it up,” as reported by the Miami Herald.

Several girls who are currently in sixth grade spoke with detectives and admitted to participating in Footman-fueled fights. Two claim that their teacher once asked if they were interested in running it back during her planning period.

According to the students, Footman had four rules, none of which included “you don’t talk about fight club.” Instead, her guidelines consisted of “30 seconds, no screaming, no yelling, no phones.”

Footman admitted to investigators that she failed to report the scuffles to school administrators or intervene, but denied having any involvement in organizing the alleged fight club.

The educator is scheduled to be arraigned on May 4. She faces up to a year for each count against her.

Related Stories

swings
life

How People Are Reacting to Wild Article About So-Called ‘Fight Club’ for Kids in Brooklyn

Parents aren't in agreement about how best to handle an area park's "fight club" experience for kids. Expectedly, there's a lot to unpack here.

Trace William Cowen1760 days ago
Not Available Lead
pop-culture

A History of Real-Life "Fight Club" Copycats

A recent Starbucks bombing is being blamed on the movie, but this isn't the first incident inspired by Tyler Durden.

Complex6135 days ago

Stay ahead on Exclusives

Download the Complex App