fight club.

Nothing was solved when the fight was over, but nothing mattered.
~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

I watch UFC. In fact, I'm watching it right now. I find it very competitive and extremely athletic. Now, would I want my kids to watch this? Probably not. Would I want my students to watch it? Probably not.

Why do we fight though? What is it that causes us (guys in particular) to try and answer insults or questions with fists?

Today, I found myself in the middle of a fight, well two fights to be exact..but they involved generally the same parties. Well, not involved, per se, but I was playing the mediator, trying to break it up. It started like most fights do, with one person calling the other a name. I heard from my right, "Hey, yeah you, you're a pussy!" Then I heard the response come from my left, "Who you calling a pussy?"...it escalated from there...with insults and challenges of manhood being thrown without caution. Then the two parties came closer and started pushing each other with little punches being thrown. I acted quickly and came between the two guys to break it up. I put one hand on each of their chests and pushed them away from each other and yelled for them to stop. It broke up quickly...and the two Grade 4 students returned to their seats. That's right, Grade 4. These tough guys were 10 years old. Are you kidding me?

I know guys have a heightened testosterone level, spiking when they hear the word, "Wuss" or "Pussy". But 10 years old??? Another fight broke out a few minutes later with one of the students who was involved in the first fight calling this new combatant's mother a whore. I broke this one up by grabbing each student by the back of their shirts and pulling them away from each other.

Why do we fight? Is our culture to blame? Is it the fact that we glamorize fighting in the media? Who knows. But I find myself to be a pretty big hypocrite right now. To be watching fighting and hoping for a big knockout or a good fight, and then standing between two young students today and yelling at them not to fight.

Who knows why we fight. Or why guys like watching violence. But you can damn well bet that anytime two students start throwing those fists, I'm gonna be standing right in the middle.