Hello!

12 Comments

22 students have been suspended from a Gold Coast school after naked images reportedly circulated around a schoolyard ‘pornography ring’.

It has been reported that year 9 girls and boys from Palm Beach Currumbin High School (PBC) who sent inappropriate images of fellow students to each other were told to stay at home for three days.

Principal Stephen Loggie has said the school will work with parents and make sure students don’t make the same mistake again.

“Young people are confronted by unprecedented pressures in relation to their online presence,” he said.

“Upon their return, all students will redo the cyber safety course which will include examining case studies highlighting the dangers of this type of activity.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Training confirmed to Yahoo7 that 22 students were suspended for sharing inappropriate images.

“Unsafe online behaviour and inappropriate use of technology is a community-wide issue,” the statement read.

“Schools, along with parents, have a role to play in supporting students to make safe and appropriate choices online.

“The school is working with students to ensure their behaviour is in line with school behaviour policy.”

Over 70 Australian schools were targets of a pornography ring.

It is believed the website, in the format of a message chat forum, is frequented by Australians but hosted outside of the country.

Parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson said, “It has never been more important for us as parents to develop healthy, respectful relationships with our children. It has never been more important for us to sit down and talk with them. It has never been more important for us to listen to them and see the world through their eyes.

We need our girls to feel safe. We need our boys to be respectful. We need, as parents, to really teach our children wisely – and to support and guide them when they struggle or make mistakes.

And we need to help them know that not everyone is like this. They need hope. We are the ones that can help them find it.”

If you have further information or would like to report concerns contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000  or the Child Protection Helpline on 132 111.

If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual assault or exploitation support is available at 1800 RESPECT and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800

Share your comments below.

Image shutterstock photo

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • So terrible that children would engage in this behaviour. Can’t blame technology – the children are supposed to have a mind of their own.

    Reply

  • i like what dr justin coulson said.

    also we need to teach our daughters about the right and wrong sort of attention because quite often teenage girls crave attention and with all those hormones flying around and the technology at their fingertips i guess its easier than ever to be tempted or tricked into this sort of thing. oh i feel for the parents having to deal with this with their kids and hope and pray i never have to, having a preteen girl this crap is scary.

    Reply

  • my big kids are this age and it is so scary! I hope mine are smart enough to listen to my warnings

    Reply

  • As a parent of a teenage daughter who is begging me to get on social media, I am concerned. I have spoken to her about not posting any naked images of herself, she laughed. I explained that even your best friends can turn on you and your image will be online forever and shared and altered. You need to talk to your children and make their accounts private!

    Reply

  • It is vile and horrific and anyone involved should be dealt with by the law.

    Reply

  • Children seem to have lower self esteem these days than in previous generations despite all the education programs.

    Reply

  • Is society getting smarter with technology, or is it controlling every aspect of our lives to the point we have no freedoms. This is terrorism at it’s worst. Kids are given mobile phones for protection, how is this protecting them? It is exposing children to more dange than I could have ever imagined. Education is one thing, however if the educated do not put it into practise, and the educated do nothing it is a waste of time and resources. I am thinking, I am from the generation that started this technical revolution, and I did not for one moment think that I would be around to see the hidious results of it.

    Reply

  • I sincerely hope they get more then a suspension. Some counselling would be needed by the look of it. Maybe even charges

    Reply

  • This is a horrible thing to do to your classmates.

    Reply

  • Woah!!

    Reply

  • The Police are going to have a great success when they track the culprits down. My guess is there is probably boys other than those at the schools they know about involved. Others have probably “hacked” into the pages too. I wonder how many are real nude photos and how many are “photoshopped”. Possibly school photos have been used and tampered

    Reply

  • This is just horrible. Nothing really mentioned about the kids whose photographs were being circulated. I hope they’re receiving support as well!!

    Reply

Post a comment

To post a review/comment please join us or login so we can allocate your points.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join