Brawl closes school in Hawaii

Massive fighting between students at Kealakehe High School in the past two days has lead all classes to get canceled on Friday, Big Island Now reported. Eight students have been arrested. A parent said that at least 60 students were brawling, though police pegged the number at 20 or 30. The students arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and released, and no one required medical attention.

The school's principal, Wilfred Murakami, said the fights resulted from "bullying through racial and cultural taunts…The result overflowed on the Micronesian side where there was frustration, yelling and screaming — a reaction," he told West Hawaii Today

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Three separate fights broke out on campus during the school’s lunch recess, West Hawaii today reported. One student said she felt she was being taunted and started screaming. That then triggered other students to start fighting, leading to three different fist fights on campus. The fights were broken up by other students and school personnel.  

Hawaii Department of Education spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz told the Associated Press that "social issues" remain a problem at the school.