Video of attack of Valley juvenile surfaces on social media

MAT-SU — Late Wednesday night, Mary Fulp rose from her sleep to discover her phone was full of notifications. Fulp discovered a violent video showing verbal and physical abuse delivered from one juvenile female to another. Fulp acted swiftly.

“They reached out to both me and Colony High School; and thankfully, I woke up,” Fulp said.

Fulp, the principal at Colony Middle School, immediately contacted the Alaska State Troopers to report the crimes committed in the video and the identities of the juveniles, one of whom was a former student of Fulp’s. AST posted a dispatch at 11:43 a.m. Thursday to alert the public that they had made contact with both the suspect and the victim and that an investigation is ongoing.

“Because it involves juveniles and it is still under investigation, there isn’t a lot we can share,” wrote AST Spokesperson Megan Peters in an email.

The video garnered over 111,000 views on Twitter and was circulated widely on Mat-Su Valley Facebook groups before the volatile content was removed.

Numerous incidents have been reported of violent juveniles that are being published after the fact. Not only are violent crimes in person making the rounds on the internet, but cyber threats caused disturbances in Mat-Su Valley schools on numerous occasions this year.

Fulp has been active in attempting to mitigate cyber bullying and cyber threats that have come to her attention from students and members of the community.

“Kids know Ms. Fulp isn’t playing. I’m calling parents,” Fulp said.

Fulp empathizes for students dealing with what she refers to as “gang-like behaviors” through anonymous Snapchat and Twitter accounts. Fulp’s fear is that children fear the repercussions of reporting violence they observe online.

“They truly feel like adults don’t understand their world,” Fulp said. “I’m willing to speak to anyone about this because this is my purpose. This is beyond my job. This is my calling. I’m a humanitarian.”

Fulp said that she does not actively seek out threats and negative behaviors on social media, and maintains a positive presence to promote change.

Fulp herself has become the target of anonymous posts and is proactive in reaching out to curtail this behavior.

Fulp praised the troopers for their responses to public safety concerns she has brought to them, and stressed that students need to know that they can reach out to help from adults in these situations.

“Anything that comes my way, I have a moral obligation to do something with it. So am I worn out? Yes. Am I exhausted? Yes. Are parents working with me? Absolutely,” Fulp said.