Children and drunks are recruited to fights on the streets of Campo Grande broadcast on the internet

Children and teenagers are being recruited in Campo Grande for street fights that feed profiles on social media in an attempt to make videos of violence in public places go viral.

Clandestine ‘street MMA’ events bring together amateurs in fights without rules that pose several risks to the integrity of the participants. Among them, many ‘fighters’ appear to be children or teenagers under 18 years of age.

On one of the pages that brings together videos of clandestine fights on the Instagram platform and tries to link with the UFC in the title, a young man presents himself as the organizer of the street ‘events’. In it, teenagers face each other without trophies or belts at stake, but in search of going viral.

The profile on the social network has just over ten videos. The fights are all recorded in public places in Campo Grande, such as squares, avenues, and even in the city center. Furthermore, some involve homeless people.

Among the rules presented to participants are warnings about the prohibition only of biting and kicking the genitals.

So, with boxing gloves, the young people clash to the sound of the spectators, who encourage: “get in his face”, can be heard in the background. Meanwhile, one child punches the other in the back of the head.

The report from the Midiamax He tried to contact the owner of the page, to find out if there is any type of control over the events, and why minors are participating. However, there was no response until the publication of this text and the space remains open.

‘Fights are out of control and can cause serious injuries’

The report from the Midiamax Newspaper contacted the physical education professional and karate teacher, Fabrício Ravagnani, so that he could explain the dangers of the practice, especially when it involves children and adolescents.

“What can be observed in these videos are dangerous situations, unsuitable locations, such as gutters or obstacles, which can injure those involved”, observed the professor.

“It is important to separate ‘fights’ from ‘fights’, as fights are uncontrolled confrontations, often violent and have no constructive purpose, in addition to being able to cause injuries, they lead to cuts, bruises, fractures and concussions, damaging health. , especially in the case of children and adolescents”, he explains.

He explains that martial arts, unlike the fights observed on the page, are structured and rely on pedagogical procedures, promote the personal development of human beings, in addition to having elements of personal defense.

The teacher advises that all fighting and martial arts practice must be conducted in appropriate locations and supervised by qualified and experienced professionals. “In this way, they can offer many benefits, physical and mental, helping to develop self-confidence, help with self-esteem, emotional control, in general, the well-being of human beings,” he said.

‘UFC Cachaça’: show features ridicule from participants in videos

All these factors are not observed in the approximately 15 videos published by the account, which at the time of the report’s visit, had just over 3,300 followers.

Among the young people who accepted the challenge of fighting without rules are children who are apparently between 10 and 14 years old. Other fights appear to involve adults. One of them is named “UFC Cachaça”, as it confronts two drunk people.

For muay thai teacher, Nathan Sosa, 28 years old, the practice is not correct, despite it becoming more common every day around the world, with the popularity of broadcasts on social media.

“Martial arts events have medical supervision and professionals such as judges and referees, who take first aid courses to help athletes if something happens”, explains the coach.

“A practice like this on the street poses a danger of a child hitting their head on the ground or suffering a fracture, bruise and the time needed for help, which must be up to 5 minutes, would not be possible to do, with the risk of permanent damage and even deaths depending on the severity”, he explained.

However, the professor also highlights the positive aspects of fighting sports for children and adolescents. “Martial arts with proper supervision have a very positive impact on children and adolescents, such as increasing confidence, developing the body, emotional control and keeping them away from bad company, drugs and drinks”, highlighted the professor.

But, after all, what about anything goes?

But after all, isn’t there a type of fight called “anything goes”? Yes, but even this has rules.

What was previously called “anything goes” is now known as MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts. The main MMA competition in the world is the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).

In MMA, athletes compete using moves from more than one martial art, considering that there are few restrictions. For example, biting, hair pulling, low blows and, in some cases, even elbows and knees are not allowed.

In a controlled environment, athletes can practice more than one fighting specialty, in fights that can take place standing or on the ground, using specific martial arts techniques such as judo, karate, jiu-jitsu, muay thai, boxing, kickboxing and wrestling.

Fights have defined round durations, professional arbitration, medical assistance, athletes separated into weight categories and other forms of control that lead to the safe practice of the sport.

Fights in Campo Grande involving minors must be reported:

If you witness any situation that involves risks to the health and protection of children and adolescents, you must report it. The reporting channels for cases involving minors are:

• Dial 100 – Dial Human Rights. The Human Rights Secretariat number receives complaints quickly and anonymously and forwards the matter to the competent bodies in the child or adolescent’s municipality of origin. Dial 100 from anywhere in Brazil.
• Call the Guardianship Council for cases of physical or sexual violence, including by family members, cases of threat or humiliation by public agents, cases of denied medical care.
• Contact the Military Police (190) or the samu (192) for urgent requests for help.
• To search for specialized police stations in the care of children or women, or any police station.

Instagram rules are clear: inciting violence is prohibited

When using a platform like Instagram, the user must accept the community guidelines terms and conditions to post content. If the published material is not in agreement, the social network states that it may delete the reported videos and, as a last resort, even ban the user responsible.

See below what the community guideline says about posting content containing explicit violence:

“We know that many people use Instagram to share important and interesting events. Some of these issues may involve explicit images. Because many different people and ages use Instagram, we may remove videos of graphic and intense violence to ensure the platform is appropriate for everyone.

We understand that people often share this type of content to condemn, raise awareness or educate. If you want to share content for these reasons, we encourage you to write a caption warning about graphic violence. It is never allowed to share explicit images for sadistic pleasure or to exalt violence“.