A massive brawl broke out at a high school in Baltimore County recently as parents and community activists raise the alarm on children's safety. 

Cell phone video captured by a bystander shows two groups of students swinging wildly at each other in the hallways of Lansdowne High School. 

The school's principal tried to break up the altercation and was attacked, according to Fox 45.

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"How can our kids learn when they're in this fight or flight mode? We wonder why the grades and proficiency levels are down so low because how can these kids learn when they're surrounded by violence," Darren Badillo, a Baltimore County Parent and Student Coalition member, told the local news outlet. 

Testing has shown that many students in Baltimore are falling behind. At nearby Patterson High School, 77% of students tested at an elementary-school reading level at the beginning of the last school year. Only about 2% were reading at grade level. 

Learning loss due to the coronavirus pandemic likely contributed to some of those low scores, but more students are also not present in the classroom. Absentee numbers jumped from 19% chronically absent in 2019 to 22% chronically absent in 2021. 

The Baltimore County school district is hosting a town hall on student safety on Thursday evening. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Lansdowne High School and Baltimore County Public Schools but did not receive a response.