I never saw anything like the outright barbarism that existed in our junior high school (7th-9th grade) in elementary or high school, or anywhere else. And this was a supposedly pretty solid school, tucked into a leafy middle-class suburb across from a Naval Training Center.
It was kind of like a prison for semi-violent offenders, but with homework and worse food.
A good bit of the crazy clearly stemmed from the fact that the "kids" were taking on some adult characteristics and interests, like sex drives, bigger, stronger bodies, and risk-taking behaviors, all while lacking the experience or self-control or social / ethical development to handle it all.
A few highlights. 
Constant and bloody fights:
Boys. Girls. Boys vs. Girls. Heads smashed into lockers; earrings torn out, a kid with a face full of stitches from a jaw-splitting karate kick. Knives. Throwing stars. Brass knuckles. Man-sized football players vs. child-sized 7th graders. Random headlocks/wedgies/punching/ you-name-its. A girl mistaking the police liason officer for a student, tackling him from behind and attempting to commence a beat-down just for the hell of it.
Vandalism:
Locks glued shut. Various noxious substances squirted through locker vents. Every kind of carving / trashing / grafitti-ing imaginable, anywhere possible. Theft.
Random bullying / harrassment:
Girls sticking pins in random behinds in the main hall. Eggs thrown. Stink bombs. Firecrackers. Spitting. A rash of sneak-up-behind-people-and-smash-them-with-a-heavy-notebook-ings. Various schoolbus insanity, like threatening passing motorists and chucking various dangerous / disgusting missiles in and out of the vehicle.
Contraband
Smoking in the bathrooms (of course). Pot sales. Cocaine sales. Associated threats.
Those were the days.
I don't know that cruel bathroom limitations or any other specific "crackdown" treatment is warranted, but some basic safety measures are definitely in order. Those tween years are rough.
"Hormones" is a simplistic explanation, but I think they're part of a difficult developmental stage for most kids, and a lot of problems ensue.
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