It all started over two sticks of gum.

By the time school officials arrived in the Rogue River High School gym one January afternoon, they found a group of girls kicking, scratching and pulling each other's hair. Other students were egging them on. Some boys were recording the fight on cell phones. Others were placing bets on the outcome.

"They were placing bets on who would do the most damage," says Joann Loudermilk, leadership teacher and student activities director.

From "Jerry Springer" to MTV to YouTube to CNN, images of girls behaving violently are splashed across the media. Small wonder fallout from hyping the "mean girls" culture has landed in local schools, officials say.

"Unfortunately, we seem to promote that within our culture, which communicates what we value — or what we're entertained by," says Phil Long, Medford schools superintendent.

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Loudermilk was recently injured while trying to break up another battle in which one group of female combatants had a student down in the hallway outside her classroom.

"They were brutally kicking the girl on the ground," says Loudermilk. " I put my body over the girl to try to protect her, and I ended up with bruised ribs, an injured knee and a cut on my hand. There were clumps of hair all over the hallway."

The majority of the district's students are not engaged in the fighting, Rogue River officials stress. But those who are actively or tacitly participating in the battles have created tension among students, teachers and district officials, says RRHS Vice Principal Randy Goss.

"One girl, she was proud of putting her boots to the kids," says Goss, referring to a student who recently transferred to a Grants Pass school. "I can't believe the girls who think it's OK to kick someone while they're down."

Jackson County sheriff's Deputy Ian Lance, Rogue River's school resource officer, has been asked to intervene in a problem that has stymied school officials. Lance says the upswing in girl violence is not limited to the small rural district.

"My fellow officers are reporting it in other areas of the valley," Lance says.

Long and Bob Hartwig, Medford student services coordinator and former high school principal, agree the problem is widespread.

"More and more the problems are coming from girls," says Hartwig.

The cultural shift in how these "bad girls" are viewed is partly to blame, says Lance. In the past, girls who openly fought with each other faced negative stigmas, he says.

"They were the troublemaker girls on the fringe," Lance says. "They were the ones chewing tobacco and hanging out with the strange crowd."

Current female combatants are often popular, attractive and doing well in school, Lance says. They view fighting as a way to gain even more status, he says.

"They're getting positive attention. Not negative. That's the shift. They're willing to accept the suspensions because they are thinking, 'My status increase is going to be huge,' " says Lance.

The violence shows a lack of respect for themselves, their peers and the faculty, says Rogue River High School senior Brittany Breshears, 18. But with no real consequences for the violent behavior and parents "fearful of disciplining their kids," Breshears says she is concerned the situation won't be resolved soon.

"Everybody is egging them on," says Breshears. "There should be more people trying to stop it. It's beyond reason. It's just ridiculous."

Adolescent girls who feel disenfranchised are angry, says former Rogue River Counselor Celia Schultz. Poverty, abuse, missing or drug-addicted parents — there is a long list of problems that can create feelings of anger and alienation, she says.

"I was shocked at the anger and competition I saw in the seventh- and eighth-grade girls at the middle school before I left," Schultz says. "These girls are damned mad all the time. And, I'm sure it's the same in every district."

Cultural shifts have made it more acceptable for girls to act out their anger, rather than internalizing their pain.

"We aren't our mother's (daughter). They aren't either. But they see it's still basically a man's world. So they are taking a chip off the old male block. It isn't what they really want, but it's what they're going to do unless they find a more positive way to express themselves and be heard," says Schultz.

Medford schools have begun offering long- and short-term special education classes with specially trained teachers who concentrate on behavioral issues, says Long.

"We offer intensive training on how to get yourself under control," he says.

Students in Loudermilk's leadership class are creating reverse peer pressure. Encouraged to stop the fights if they can, the students are quick to call in adults if things get out of hand.

"I'd like to see the respect factor come back among our peers and for the teachers," says Breshears.

Some of the violent girls now have a criminal record, Lance says, which seems to be dampening the fighting.

"The law doesn't distinguish on the base of gender," says Lance. "Word passed very quickly this was not going to be tolerated. We had a little civics lesson on the juvenile justice system. I wanted them to wrap their minds around the realities of being a felony juvenile on probation. If they're not careful, these charges can follow them throughout their lives."

Lance also explained to the students the level of force an officer is allowed to utilize to stop criminal attacks.

"I told them I would beat, spray and shock my way into a resolution that doesn't involve someone dying," says Lance.

Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail sspecht@mailtribune.com.