Israel-Hamas war: Parents speak out after alleged discriminatory fight at high school in Cherry Hill
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Tensions rise at a high school in South Jersey after a fight broke out during lunchtime following the news of the Israel-Hamas war.
Videos have been circulating on social media of a brawl between students in the Cherry Hill High School East cafeteria.
The school district notified parents of the incident in an email on Thursday, letting folks know the fight was immediately addressed by school staff.
FOX 29’s Dawn Timmeney spoke to Cherry Hill High School parents like Annya Baskerville who felt uneasy about the situation after her son showed her the videos.
"It's upsetting," said Baskerville. "The kids I mean. I don't know. I don't know what to say."
The students at the high school allegedly clashed over the recent bombing of Israel by Hamas which then resulted in war.
"It hit hard because I don't share the same nationality, but I definitely can feel for the students who do share that nationality," said Annya’s son Dylon Baskerville, Cherry Hill High School East junior.
Cherry Hill High School East parent, Inna Bolotina, said the cafeteria situation escalated after her 16-year-old son posted a video of the incident on social media.
"What's absolutely important is that every kid, every child feel safe at school and the children aren't feeling safe," said Bolotina.
Israel-Hamas war: Philadelphia parents wait for teen son to return home after studying in Israel
Philadelphia parents express deep concern as their 16-year-old son is still in Israel after attending his Jewish day school's study-abroad program that got cut short from the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In the statement released by the district, the email acknowledges that students and their families are "experiencing powerful feelings" by the chaos occurring in the Middle East. The district then recognized how much concern the fight was causing in the community.
"It's awful," said Gina Szklarski, Cherry Hill High School East parent. "I can't believe it’s happening in school. I don't know if I want to send her to school tomorrow. Little scary. Little concerned about what's going on."
In the email sent to families, the district said they will not tolerate violence nor discrimination and they urged students who hear or see something upsetting to report it immediately to a trusted adult.