LAKE ELSINORE -- Two weeks to the day after a melee and racially tainted fights broke out between Latino and white students at Temescal Canyon High School, officials brought together a group of about 90 students Wednesday to talk about their feelings and help them bridge racial and ethnic divides.

The "Unity Forum" was the second such meeting the school has held in the past two weeks.

While the school has periodically held the forums over the years, attendance has increased since the fights, organizer and teacher Melissa Labayog said, adding that participation is voluntary. About 190 students attended the May 14 forum, whereas a January forum only drew about 70 students.

The meetings are an important step towards smoothing out tensions and fostering tolerance, several students said.

"It helps people see different cultures and what they experience," student Tommy Washington said, adding that Wednesday was the second forum he has attended.

But the school should involve more students in the meetings, Tommy said.

"It's a step," he said, "(but) I think the whole school should be involved."

Many students say that racial and ethnic tensions have been simmering on the campus for years. Those tensions apparently exploded May 12 after a white student yelled a profanity and a racial slur at a Latino girl, sparking two fights and a melee involving hundreds of students.

More fights broke out the following day. The violence resulted in the suspension of 18 students, eight of whom face expulsion. Sheriff's department officials said they would ask the district attorney to file battery charges against three boys and possibly two girls.

Since the fights, interviews with students show that ethnic divisions have grown at the school. Some students even claim they have had to choose sides and have stopped associating with friends who are of a different race.

Among several different exercises conducted at Wednesday's meeting, students put signs on their backs, which would pretend to identify them. Signs carried labels like: "gay;" "ugly;" "important;" "drug dealer;" "teacher." The students didn't know what their signs said.

Labayog then asked the students to look at each other's sign and react to that person as they normally would if interacting with a person fitting that description. The trick was for the student wearing the sign to try and figure out what the label said, based on the way the other student reacted.

A girl approached a boy with a sign labeling him as ugly. As she looked at him, she grimaced and wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"I kind of knew from the look on her face," said Bryon Amann of the encounter.

Another exercise separated students into groups. A team leader then asked each person to write down what they think should be done to prevent further violence on campus and to foster tolerance.

"Kick all the troublemakers out of school," wrote one student; "Talk about problems," wrote another. "Don't let people wear things that could be weapons," wrote a third.

Discussions ensued on each suggestion. One student said that it would be futile to ban students from wearing chains, for example.

"You could use a pen as a weapon; what are you going to do, outlaw pens?" he asked.

The one thing that most students seemed to agree on was that they could only benefit from talking to one another and getting to know more people of different races and ethnic groups.

Students also made up lists of stereotypes they or others project on different groups. For whites, students wrote things like: "racist;" " think they own the world;" "dominant race;" "speed addicts."

Some students used stereotypes for Mexicans like: "Eat beans; "Wear gold;" "Hard workers;" "Weed and beer."

Students listed stereotypes for blacks that included: "loud," "funny," "welfare," "fried chicken."

All 90 or so students then got together with Labayog to challenge and discuss the stereotypes.

"We are not all broke," said one black girl. Other students made comments like: "Some black people like to listen to rock, too;" "Not all skinheads are racist;" "People think that all white people in Canyon Lake are rich and they're not."

Labayog told students that before using a stereotype for others, they should think about how they feel when they are on the receiving end of slurs or teasing based on labels.

"You might laugh about someone else, but when someone laughs at what you are, it's upsetting," she said.

At the end of the meeting, Labayog showed people how much they all have in common, by asking them to stand up each time she asked them about life experiences they have had.

Almost all of the students rose to their feet when she asked questions like:

"How many of you are an excellent friend?" "How many of you have a close friend who is addicted to drugs or alcohol?" "How many of you have ever been so angry, you didn't know how to handle it?" "How many have ever been made fun of on campus?" "How many have made fun of someone else?"

After the meeting, students showed mixed reactions as to the effectiveness of gatherings like the Unity Forums.

"It's a really nice way to meet people of other races," said Thompson King, 15, adding that he expects to begin hanging out with some of the teens he got to know at the meeting.

Fifteen-year-old Amanda Johnson, however, showed more skepticism.

"I think it's a good program, but not all people are willing to learn about other people," she said. "You have to have students who really want to change."

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or wbennett@californian.com.