Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "Friday Night Lights" have given way to "Friday Night Fights" to start out the varsity football season in parts Western New York.
There have already been a number of incidents this season. Sometimes it's on the field between players, and other times it's in the stands between fans.
It has caused games to be postponed, canceled or played with limited fans.
"It does appear to be more prevalent this year," said Michael Cornell, Hamburg Central School Superintendent and President of the Erie Niagara School Superintendent Association. "But it's important to recognize that things like this are still pretty rare.
Hundreds of interscholastic athletic events are held each week, but Cornell said a couple of recent incidents are notable and concerning.
The most recent incident involved varsity players from Kenmore East and Cheektowaga. The game on September 22, led to a bench clearing and what some call a brawl on the field.
After an investigation by both school districts, a joint decision was made that
both teams would forfeit their upcoming Week 5 games.
Cornell credits game officials and staff who were able to keep a difficult situation from becoming a dangerous situation.
"There does seem to be a coarsening of society out there," said Cornell. "In some respects, people are nicer and kinder and more accepting and more loving than before. But on the other hand, you have a subset of the population whose anti-social behavior has become more pronounced."
Cornell added that we have to remember why we play sports in school.
"I think we've forgotten what we're doing. Education based athletics is about learning. Be good teammates, work hard, respect the game, respect your opponent, accept the outcome. That's why we fund education-based athletics through a budget. It's not so that kids can get scholarships and it's not to go out and win championships."
Cornell added that in these situations, kids made a bad choice. "If you leave the bench, or start participating in a shoving match, you're going to be ejected from the game and suspended from the next game. That's what the Section VI rule is. There are certain behaviors at a school event, whether it's a football game or something else, that simply won't be tolerated."
The goal, he said, is to strike the right balance between helping them understand what the standard of behavior is, and giving them a consequence so that they can use the mistake as a learning opportunity and do better next time.
Cornell himself coached football at Kenmore West earlier in his career. He has been around education based athletics throughout his entire professional career.
"Some skirmishes are part and parcel and happen. But generally speaking, coaches and officials do a great job at getting in the middle of it. But I think it's becoming more and more difficult to help our young people understand
exactly why we're playing the game."
He asks parents to please remind your children why they are playing. "It's about learning," he said. "Not to start fights and put your team at a disadvantage."