"It disturbs me": Bradley County officials blame social media for staged fighting incident at middle school

After a staged fighting incident at a middle school in Bradley County, our partners at Mix 104.1 spoke with Dr. Linda Cash, director of Bradley County Schools, and Bradley County Sheriff Steve Lawson. 

Dr. Linda Cash said while she didn't want to discuss the fighting, she wanted to explain the dangers of social media. She said that social media can coax children to do pranks, film them, and post them.

"It disturbs me that social media has that kind of hold on our students," said Cash. 

Sheriff Steve Lawson says many of these issues start at home, where technology has bypassed a lot of parents. 

"Are we perfect? No!" explained Sheriff Lawson. "But we deal with things that need to be dealt with. It makes me sick seeing these things pop up on social media." 

Sheriff says he tries to always do the right thing, but knows mistakes happen. He advises parents to bring any issues or questions to him. 

Cash plans to inform parents on what to look out for when it comes to checking their children's cell phones. With fast-paced trends, she says once they figure out one, social media has already moved on to the next. 

"We want this community to be the best, so let's work together to make it the best," said Sheriff Lawson.