Filming fights and posting them online could soon be a crime in Illinois if one lawmaker has her way. Students, who would be the primary focus of the law, have mixed feelings about this idea.
Students can go to school and pay attention in class, but their cell phones are never too far away.
"Yeah, it`s all the time. In school, it`s every single day in the class, you get in there and there`s always somebody on their phone," Moline High School sophomore Jacob Jensen said.
"In certain classes, they`re banned, but in the cafeteria, they`re not banned," Moline High School freshman Genevieve King said.
The cafeteria is exactly where King says she saw a fight, where two people had to be pulled apart. With cell phones close by, someone could've filmed it and posted it online. Illinois Representative Terri Bryant wants to make that a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
"Technically, they`re involved. They didn`t help and they`re recording it. They`re instigating," Moline High School sophomore Larcen Golding said.
One of the biggest cases of this comes out of Chicago back in 2009. It was then that 16-year-old Derrion Albert was punched and beaten to death, while other stood around, filming the entire thing.
For Golding, his first reaction when he sees a fight starting up is to try and help.
"I`d stop it. I`ve stopped many, ever since middle school. Most people, I don`t even know why they`d record the fight," Golding said.
There is an argument that Jensen adds against the proposed law. Not only could it violate someone's First Amendment rights, but a video could also help punish people in the fights.
"Sometimes the recordings can help the principal and everyone else figure out who was in that fight and help stop it from going on further," Jensen said.
However, the students feel that's not enough to justify pulling out the phone. They say that shouldn't be the priority, especially when someone's physical and mental health is at stake.
"It`s just like cyber-bullying. Let`s say someone loses the fight and you post it. They`re going to get teased. It`s kind of crappy. I don`t see a problem with it," King said.
Rep. Bryant says one of the goals is to bring attention to how people are using social media to get a certain amount of fame, and the hope is that people focus more on helping people who are in danger.
A Kentucky state legislator proposed a similar law last month that would fine people $100 for taking photos or video of fights and posting them online, but they withdrew the bill for fear of infringing on First Amendment rights.