Viewers raise concerns over Fleming fights

The hunting accident that killed a Ferrum student and hurt another sparked several comments from our viewers.

Lew Hege wrote, “The accident was a tragedy that could have happened anywhere.  Hunters need to be certain before pulling the trigger.”

Karen Montgomery of Forest emailed, “As a 2006 Ferrum Alum, I wanted to thank WSLS for their up to date coverage of the recent shooting. I know that WSLS keeps the news stories current online and I appreciate your live coverage when other stations won’t even mention it. WSLS has become my number one station for local news and weather. I also appreciated the coverage of the men’s basketball game tonight. We always seem to hear a lot about VT and UVA, but it is important to hear about where I graduated from too. Thank you again for your excellent news coverage.”

Meanwhile we heard from a handful of viewers fired up over the exclusive video we aired showing fights happening at William Fleming High School that required police officers and pepper spray to break up.

Patricia Bell called in to say the school needs help.

“They need to get I guess what you say police officers in there that can handle these young people. And if they fight they need to be sent to Coyner Springs. They have known this since elementary school to behave in a manner. This is an educational center. This is not a fighting center or anything else,” she said.

Others took issue with our coverage.

Pamela Vaughn called in to say, “Children tend to respond to attention and by doing that, by showing that it just encourages children I feel to want more and more attention. I also do not feel like it was helpful to the Roanoke City Schools in a trying time in which they have tried to overcome other bad publicity from the administration of that school from last year.”

While April of Roanoke left this message, “As usual Channel 10 could not wait to jump all over something from Fleming and that’s pertaining to the melee that was there. It was reported and reported and reported. I would think tow or three days straight would be a bit much. And, as I am sure there are a couple of other things that could have been the first thing on your newscast, just because someone with a video was so anxious to be on the news. There is no use sensationalizing it more so than it already is just because of some young people. Their hormones get the best of them and others jump in for some excitement.”

WSLS responds: Let’s be clear here, we would have aired fight video of this nature from any school. In fact later that same week, we did a story on a spike in fights at Northside High School.

As for the Fleming video, we felt the parents had a right to know what was happening while their children were supposed to be learning. The school system sent home letters and made public comments to us that did not match the scene that we saw in the video. As a parent, wouldn’t you want to have the most accurate information about your child’s safety?

It is unfortunate that these fights have shed a negative light on the Fleming, but it is not our job to sugar coat what’s happening there. It is our job to report the news and those fights including the tactics police used to break them up, the arrests that resulted from the fights, and the students who were injured during the fights… are news.