It’s all right there in the headline, isn’t it?
This week, a New York magazine report detailed what’s been referred to as a “kiddie fight club,” among other things. The “club” in question is Brooklyn’s Greenpoint Fight Club, a parent-approved effort that brings together kids ranging from five to seven years old.
Per Joshua David Stein’s must-read piece on the practice, the mere existence of such a thing has inspired (largely on Facebook) intense debate among parents on both sides of this apparently pressing issue. One parent, for example, said in a Facebook group post that she was “a bit shocked” by “how aggressive it was” when she witnessed the club’s activities in person at its park-based meeting location.
As you may have guessed, a debate within the Facebook group quickly erupted that included impassioned takes from a variety of parents, including one identified as Julie Wilson in Stein’s report this week. Wilson, notably, is the mother of one of the children involved with the club. According to Thursday’s report, Wilson confirmed that she and other participating parents do indeed refer to the club as a “fight club.” The Chuck Palahniuk-nodding name, however, is not indicative of what participating parents say is happening.
Instead, there are rules about going too far—i.e. no kicking and no punching—and the total number of “members” is estimated to be less than 10 kids. In short, Wilson was quoted as saying the whole thing began due to the fact that a lot of kids enjoyed pretend-fighting on the park’s rubber mats.
Regardless, plenty of people had their own thoughts about this not-really-fighting example of a makeshift “fight club,” as sampled below. For the full experience, do yourself a favor and read the Stein piece.
As for the possible Palahniuk inspiration here, it’s hard not to imagine what the oft-controversial writer might do with this exact story.
