Another week, another case of private photos of underage girls being stolen and circulated without consent.
Following on from last week’s bombshell of an extensive pornography-sharing ring which was using an online forum to circulate the stolen photos of schoolgirls from as many as 70 different Australian high schools, yet another high school is dealing with a similar crisis.
It’s been revealed that the Palm Beach Currumbin State High School on the Gold Coast has suspended more than 20 students after discovering they’d circulated nude photos of other students.
The incident is separate to the aforementioned nationwide pornography ring, and is confined to the school and a handful of Year 9 students only.
The photos reportedly featured both male and female students, and those involved in circulating them have been told by school officials to stay home for periods of time ranging from 3 to 20 days.
School principal Stephen Loggie confirmed that 22 students had been suspended, and that the entire school body will re-take cyber safety education courses to further reinforce the importance of consent (which hopefully focuses more on the “don’t steal nude photos” angle and less on the “if you don’t want things stolen, don’t have them” part).
“Young people are confronted by unprecedented pressures in relation to their online presence.”
“PBC is working with the parents of these students to ensure their young people make better decisions in the future.”“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.”
QLD Police stated they were unaware of the incident, and Education Queensland could not confirm if it was isolated to just Palm Beach Currumbin.
The school sports some 3,000-odd students.
Source: Gold Coast Bulletin.
Photo: Palm Beach Currumbin State High/Facebook.
