A student at an elite school in Victoria has accused her classmates of repeated acts of racism and cyber-bullying, adding that she was disappointed in the way her school handled the allegations.
Cherise Ncube, a year 9 student at The Knox School in Wantirna South, said she was “distraught” and “humiliated” after she was allegedly called the N-word numerous times by other students in class.
Speaking to the Herald Sun, Ncube said she called out a student for allegedly saying the N-word in science class, back in February.
“He was singing a song and said the N-word. I told him not to say it and he said it repeatedly despite the fact I was telling him not to say it,” Ncube told the newspaper.
“When I reported it to the head of middle school, she spoke to him but he still didn’t think he had done anything wrong and that’s when he and other students began to target me,” she claimed.
Ncube alleges other students started calling her derogatory names, including the N-word, when she walked into a room.
“It was awful and they would call me a snitch, which led me to being isolated,” she said.
Ncube claims she soon became the target of a Snapchat group called “Boys 2.0”, where a photo of herself was allegedly taken from her personal Instagram account and mocked in the group.
But when Ncube reported the alleged incidents to her principal, she said she was disappointed in his response. And it’s not hard to see why.
“When I was asked to recall what had happened, the principal kept asking ‘what tone’ the N-word was said in,” she claimed.
“The tone shouldn’t matter … it’s important to call this out.”
Knox School Principal Allan Shaw has, of course, denounced any form of discrimination and non-inclusive behaviour, but claimed the school’s investigation into the alleged incident unearthed no “evidence of cyber-bullying, or a hate group.”
Right.
Ncube told the Herald Sun that she will be moving schools as a result of the alleged bullying, as well as their pretty shitty response.
The Knox School describes itself as one of “Melbourne’s finest independent” and co-educational schools that caters to students from early learning to VCE.
