Who could have imagined that the schoolyard fight would morph into an audition for budding Net video stars?

And yet, that's where digital technology has brought us, with students at 'Ilima Intermediate School and other campuses brawling on school grounds and then recording it with video-enabled cell phones to post on Web sites such as YouTube.

Recent experiences at 'Ilima are just the latest in a disturbing trend away from reasonable standards of behavior being practiced and upheld in our public schools. Unfortunately, this 'Ewa Beach campus is not alone among schools where fighting is a regular occurrence.

For example, the reports of serious assaults, required under the schools' disciplinary code, Chapter 19, doubled at King Intermediate and tripled at Central Middle from 2005-2006 to last school year.

And the recent uproar about the Saint Louis School students allegedly hurling eggs at a house suggests that bad behavior is not the exclusive domain of public schools.

Police say it's clear that not all such cases are reported and dealt with. At 'Ilima, Advertiser staff writer Gordon Pang documented teacher complaints that campus order has slackened, and that punishment isn't always meted out.

Problems don't begin in middle school, and early intervention is needed to curb it. Several schools on the Big Island have had success with an anti-bullying training program to nudge children toward nonviolence. It's a good start.

But state school officials also need to fulfill promised refinements in the reporting process so schools can accurately report offenses. Officials should impose consequences swiftly and consistently. Cell phones used during school hours — with or without videocams — could be confiscated.

And as old-fashioned as it sounds, campus detention chores are still effective, assuming the students are properly supervised.

But above all, parents must play the leading role in setting their kids straight, before they go too far off course.