Fights cause more problems than they solve. They happen more often than they should. They’re a one-way ticket to five seconds of high school fame. FHN offers counseling and makes staff available to help students work through their frustrations, but these need to be utilized more by students.“Fight Club” jokes aside, it is a serious issue and students need to handle it as such. Though there may be endless reasons why someone chooses to fight, none of them are valid, and a better ways the situation could be handled.

“He started it. He came up to me and started yelling, and then he pushed me.”

If someone else gets aggressive, retaliating isn’t the answer, especially when safer, calmer methods of handling that kind of situation exist. Whatever happens, ignore them and their effort to start a fight. Tell them to stop. If they’re making you mad, count to ten. Walk away. Here’s a tip: walking away calmly won’t look like you’re running away. Don’t worry about choosing not to fight and destroying your reputation. Choosing not to fight will make you seem more mature and laid-back, rather than explosive and hotheaded.

“We were just messing around.”

Why let “messing around” escalate to a fight? Fighting has too many consequences and should be handled with caution. These consequences extend far beyond getting suspended from school. Fighting leads to legal trouble. And, of course there’s the blood, the bruises, the broken bones. Who knows, there might be an injury that affects one of you for the rest of your life. They aren’t worth the trouble.

“My boyfriend cheated on me with her. I saw her in the hall, and she made me mad.”

Being cheated on hurts, but that doesn’t mean your anger should be taken out on “the other woman.” There are more beneficial ways to go about it. Talk to her about what happened. Talk to your boyfriend, and if forgiving him is difficult, end the relationship. If being near her makes you too angry or too upset, FHN provides guidance counselors you can talk to about those issues. If that’s too awkward, talk to your favorite teacher in the building. There’s lots of options for you to release your frustration. Using fighting as an outlet is unnecessary.

“I overheard from a girl in my history class that he was talking trash about me.”

So someone said something you didn’t like, but does that mean they deserve to be beat up? Honestly, objectively, sensibly think about it. Don’t let your emotions get in the way. What good is attacking them going to do? What do you expect will happen? Do you think, in midst of you punching the life out of him, he’ll realize his mistake and apologize endlessly? More likely, it will just anger him further, especially since you started it. Fighting creates more problems than it can even begin to solve. If you really wanted to solve the problem, talk to him, or get a counselor involved. Discussing issues you’re having with others is a much more effective solution.