It probably depended on where you were. I attended grade school in the US in the 1990s and got into only one “fight” where punches were thrown. No teachers were around but there would have been punishment had it been reported.
Fights were not uncommon. I saw probably 8 or 10 inside school and a handful more after school at designated spots over 4 years in high school.
It was a suspension offense but no police or record was involved.
I won't go into details about my involvement in any school fights, but there were 2 incidents with tormentors at new schools that were quickly resolved and I lived in peace thereafter nor do I regret my actions. Besides I was like 8 and 11 years old at those times.
I don't think those "rougher" times were good and I'm glad there is less of that now. Still (and this might be personal bias), I can't help feeling like we lost something in the sense there is a fundamental underlying biological reality and people are shocked when they find out it actually exists underneath everything and people are more balanced if they learn this at an emotional level early.
I think these are the conditions we evolved under (constant threat of violence and need to deal with it) so even though it's not good and people got hurt and killed needlessly, we are somewhat adapted to that and changing the circumstances makes us a bit neurotic. Or something along those lines.
Similar age group as you and also in the US. I can recall a single fight in school, and I honestly don't think any real punches thrown; it was more of a stand off with light hitting that died down quicker than it started.
Same, late 80s/early 90s. I had one altercation in 2nd (?) grade where we mostly just pushed each other around and then wrestled on the ground. I can think of a couple times people got in each others faces in high school, but no knock-down-drag-out fights to speak of.
It's so weird that someone would say they didn't go to a violent school, but there were constant fights. Violence doesn't mean "weekly school shootings."
