Laurel High fights spark renewed safety concerns, social media spreads videos
Two fights at Laurel High and viral fight videos have put security, discipline and parent trust back under the microscope in Laurel, Prince George’s County.
Laurel High School’s latest fights have pushed school safety back to the center of life at 8000 Cherry Lane, where two campus brawls in the past two weeks and the spread of fight videos online have left parents looking for more than reassurance.
Prince George’s County Public Schools said the students involved in the most recent skirmishes were suspended immediately. But the bigger problem now reaching families in Laurel is what happens after the fights end: social media accounts, including one known as the Laurel Fight Page, are circulating clips from the incidents and even reposting older videos from previous school years, keeping the conflicts alive long after the school day.
The district said Laurel High saw 18 fights this school year, down from 28 in the 2023-24 school year. It has pointed to a layered response that includes School Resource Officers, Prince George’s County police, metal detectors, cameras, anti-bullying reporting systems, counselors and psychologists. Those measures are already part of daily life at the school, but the latest violence has raised the question of whether they are keeping pace with the speed at which school conflicts now spread online.
Laurel High principal Michael Dinkins is listed by the district as responsible for building security and emergency planning, putting him at the center of the school’s response. PGCPS policy also gives administrators authority to discipline students through suspensions and expulsions, with extended suspensions defined as 11 to 45 school days and expulsions lasting 45 days or more in certain cases.
The debate over Laurel High is unfolding in a county where school security has already become a systemwide issue. A 2024 Maryland news report said Prince George’s County Public Schools was one of only two public school systems in the state with metal detectors in all high schools. County leaders also created a high school metal detector program through PG 302-24 in the 2023-24 school year, underscoring how central security has become to education policy in Prince George’s County.
The concern in Laurel is not confined to one campus. In July 2025, city officials imposed a temporary youth curfew after fights, fireworks and a shooting disrupted Independence Day celebrations. Just days ago, WJLA reported a shooting and stabbing near the Laurel Shopping Center on Baltimore Avenue. Against that backdrop, the question for Laurel High is whether the school’s current security and discipline system is concrete enough to restore order before the school year ends.
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