SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Violent fights from Natomas-area high schools were showing up on YouTube, so a principal fought back with his own camera -- and redirected the teens' energy.

Though they're called "fades" today, schoolyard fights are perceived by some teens as improving social rank.

"The kids feel that they earn respect from one another -- it might give them a higher status," student Gabriel Hernandez said.

Natomas High student Jordan Lytle recorded a fade video and posted it on YouTube, where it was viewed more than 200,000 times.

"By putting it up there, it gets a lot of views, a lot of people talking about it," he said.

But the buzz got community leaders concerned about the violence escalating beyond the schoolyard.

"You know, these things lead from one thing to the next," Natomas safety advocate Angelique Ashby said. "Pretty soon you get tired of fighting and move on to the next thing. In June of this year, Natomas had a huge home invasion series, and most of the people who were caught in that home invasion series were teenagers."

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Some other cities dealing with school fight videos posted online...

Lakeland, Fla. -- Teens In Videotaped Beating Face Judge

Mocksville, N.C. -- Advisor Suspended Over High School 'Fight Club'

Norwood, Ohio -- Teen Convicted In Videotaped Locker-Room Brawl

Harrisburg, Pa. -- YouTube Fight Video Gets 9 Students Expelled

Louisville, Ky. -- Teens Face Charges After Fights Posted On YouTube

Cincinnati -- Girl Suspended After School Fight Posted Online

Baltimore, Md. -- Teacher's Attack Caught On Camera

Milwaukee, Wis. -- Classroom Fight Caught On Cell Phone Video

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John Eick, Natomas High's principal, said it breaks his heart to see fight videos with his school's name attached to them.

Eick now checks video sites regularly for offenders -- and carries his own camera.

"Mr. Eick, he brings a camera to every fight, and if he videotapes you going to a fight to go see it, you might get suspended as well. So everybody just walks away," student Denzelle Jenkins said.

Eick and the school also started assigning video projects to redirect the students' energy.

"We started a 'clean it up' campaign, where our students produced a rap video and we talk about cleaning it up," Eick said.

Students and staff say school spirit is up, while the Natomas fades are starting to fade away.

"Students rise to expectations. If we say, 'We expect you to be positive and be a citizen of Natomas High School,' they do," Eick said.

He also noted that suspensions were down about 50 percent since the school launched its positive image campaign.