COMMUNITY ESSAY : A Fighting Chance for Peace : A woman who breaks up a scuffle between two girls wonders if anyone in the crowd hears her call for nonviolence.

I recently broke up a fight between two girls who looked about 10 years old. The fight started outside a library as the girls exchanged words that I could not hear. The smaller girl dropped her bicycle, threw down her backpack and then her jacket. She approached the taller girl and “got in her face,” standing less than two inches from her. As I watched, the words escalated, the girls grabbed each other’s hair and began kicking and swinging.

As I ran from my car, where I had been waiting for my daughter, I could see hair accessories flying. Several adults were standing by watching. There were more than a half-dozen girls standing there laughing and cheering. After jumping the short fence between them and me, I pulled the two girls apart and struggled to keep them from attacking each other again. The smaller girl had her hair pulled into disarray, a bloody nose and a sprained finger, while the other girl apparently injured her elbow, which did not keep her from “high-fiving” one of her companions.

The smaller girl told me that the other girls were classmates, and had been calling her names and threatening to “jump her” for a long time. I tried my best to explain that violence never solves a problem. The smaller girl then said that she was going to go home and get a knife to stab the other girl, or in the alternative, tell her mother, who would then shoot the other girl. I told her I did not believe that she really wanted to do that, and that she should instead talk to her school officials if she felt that she was being victimized while there. I also told the girls that their futures should not end because of some words.

During the fight, my 13-year-old daughter had returned to our car and sat there rather than assisting me. I have a history of involving myself in inequitable situations, such as helping victims of car accidents, breaking up fights, calling the police when I see the law broken and photographing taggers. I long ago assumed that my children had picked up this concern about community and those who reside in it.

I was shocked when my daughter told me that all the kids threaten each other in this manner. I asked why she did not come over to help, other than to bring tissue for the girl whose nose was bleeding. I think I embarrassed her by expecting her to be as concerned as I was that these two girls not injure each other. Have our children become so immune to the suffering of others that they no longer have empathy?

The taller girl left with several friends, and I did not have a chance to speak with her. The smaller girl finally relaxed enough that I could hug her tears away. I followed her and a friend until she neared her house to ensure that she arrived safely.

I don’t know if any of my words about nonviolence will be remembered by any of the children present. The few adults who came to help once the fight ended were supportive and that was some comfort. But I will always remember the spectators who laughed and cheered at the misery of these two girls and wonder and worry about their future and ours if this is the norm for our children.