CERES, CA. The teenager caught fighting on camera was most likely seeking approval from his mother, according to a Manteca child psychologist.
Clinical psychologist Victoria Boccanfuso weighed in on the fight video, in which a Ceres mother is shown encouraging and cursing at her 14-year-old son to fight another boy on her front lawn.
Ceres police arrested Jennifer Zuniga, 33, for child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Police said Zuniga not only encouraged the fight, but facilitated it by approaching her son's rival afterschool and inviting him to fight her son.
"I'm worried about how her son is handling the situation now," Boccanfuso said.
"The child may feel regret immediately after the fight, 'I know I shouldn't have done it, I know it was wrong,' but he was swept up in the energy at the moment and also to please his mother.
Now he has to go to school and deal with other people's judgments of him and not knowing what will happen to his family life."
In the video, the boys are pulled up off the ground by a peer and don't continue exchanging punches until they look at Zuniga and she asks, "Are you done ?"
A law enforcement officer said "mutual combat," or a fight agreed upon by both parties, is not exactly illegal, even when done in a public park or street.
In all cases, police will stop the fight and take an incident report. Depending on the situation, the officer can make an arrest for disturbing the peace.
The officer said mutual combats can still have serious consequences in the form of a civil lawsuit if one of the fighters gets seriously injured, or felony arrest if someone gets killed.
Boccanfuso said one of the biggest mistakes parents make is assuming their teenager is an established individual with a made-up mind on issues and ethics.
"Adolescents are extremely moldable," Boccanfuso said.
"Everything has an effect on them.
If they see any bad behavior from adults or violence, the child may misinterpret that."