Twenty students from Knox have faced or are facing disciplinary action after offensive material was posted in the online group,principal Scott James told parents in a letter on Tuesday,revealing for the first time that other schools were being contacted.
Principal Scott James says 20 Knox students had faced or were facing disciplinary action over the online chat group.Rhett Wyman
James said an investigation had identified 74 active “handles” used in the chatroom materials provided to the school.
“A handle[is] akin to a nickname to mask the user’s identity and often a single user will utilise multiple handles. These handles equated to 20 individuals from Knox who met the policy threshold for consequences. There are also boys and girls from other schools involved,and these schools are being notified,” James said.
“Depending on the nature of their involvement,our boys have faced,or are facing,consequences including in-school responses,suspension or being withdrawn from the school. Much of this activity occurred during the first weeks of the investigation and it is important to note that the initial withdrawals commenced in early August,” James said.
The letter to parents comes after revelations last week that students used a chat room to share racist and homophobic videos,messages and rantings on violent misogyny. NSW police’s commander of the child abuse and sex crimes Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty.
In the letter to parents,James said it had been a “complex and forensic exercise to systematically and fairly apply the Knox discipline policy”.
The north shore private school’s board commissioned law firm MinterEllison to “objectively review” the school’s process and found the process was comprehensive and measured.
“I note for the record that we did engage with police,but were unable to communicate with you until police confirmed that there were no criminal offences or child protection matters involved – that timing coincided with media interest last week,” James said.
James said the school was in its final phase of the response to the materials provided,and the investigation remains open in case further information becomes available.
Knox Grammar School has uncovered the involvement of boys and girls from other schools in the scandal.Rhett Wyman
“The behaviour of this group of boys in their early teenage years is unacceptable in any society,and particularly unacceptable given the values and culture of Knox. We model and expect better from our students,and our response has been driven by a need to find the right balance between upholding the values of the community and recognising these are young people.”
James said he addressed the senior school at a school assembly on Monday and expressed his “disgust and anger that a group of early teenage boys in our community should behave in this fashion”.
“I made it very clear that should there be any further offensive behaviour online or otherwise,the school will take a similarly decisive approach – and this applies to those bystanders who do not intercede or report such offences to family,friends or the school.”
Reports of the messages and videos on the messaging app Discord,that were first published inThe Daily Telegraph,also prompted the NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell to ask the state’s.
“I was shocked and appalled to learn of the activities within these chat groups. This is far from the behaviour we expect from students in NSW. I have asked NSW Education Standards Authority to closely monitor the situation at Knox and follow appropriate procedures,” she said.
Knox,a kindergarten to year 12 school in Wahroonga,charges annual fees of more than $30,000 for its senior students.
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