WREG.com

“No Prom” is punishment for after school brawl

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —  WREG learned of another fight involving teens but this time the penalty wasn’t a trip to juvenile court.

The principal did something else to send a message that the violence had got to stop.

There will not be a senior prom for some of the students at Memphis Business Academy because of a huge fight that occurred a week ago.

Seniors at Memphis Business Academy looked forward to prom all year long only to find out this week some of them were banned from going.

“They should have thought about the consequences that could have occurred. They could have died. When I say a fight I mean a real fight,” said Dr. Menthia Clark, the principal of MBA.

The principal told WREG a student posted the video of four girls fighting on Facebook.

Nineteen other students watched it.

Some recorded it.

“When the video cameras are up they think they’re on their own little reality show because they think it’s going to go on the internet and it’s going to spread. They want to be the one that won the fight,” Clark said.

The video isn’t online anymore but Clark said one student brought her baby to the fight.

Another had a stun gun.

Several of them even had marijuana.

“The police were supportive of the effort we’re doing with our students to say this is your consequence. This could have been your consequence,” she said.

Police didn’t arrest anyone but the principal basically put them on house arrest by banning students from next week’s prom.

Robert Austin was one of those students.

“Honestly just being a youth, a teen. It’s no excuse really for why but other than just being a youth,” said Austin.

Tiranie McCracken can go but she’ll be without most of her friends.

“We were just really looking for to prom and with most of our friends not going that really hurt a lot of us,” she said.