Class War: Girl’s schoolyard attack filmed and shared on Snapchat

A teenage girl has told how a classmate ambushed her in the school toilets and punched her in the face up to 20 times while a girl filmed the sickening attack on her mobile phone.

Kristy* was in the bathroom at her high school in the Hunter when she was ambushed by a classmate.

“(The aggressor) held my head down and started punching me,” the teenager said.

“Heaps of other girls came in (to watch), my glasses flew off – but I thought I couldn’t fight back.”

The victim said she was repeatedly “uppercut” to the head about 20 times before crashing downwards.

“She then grabbed my head when I was on the ground and every time she hit me, my head would smack against the sink,” she said.

“That’s when I looked up and noticed 30 other girls there – no one offered to help.”

A mother and daughter have spoken out after the teenager was the victim of a filmed bashing at a school in the Hunter. Picture: Liam Driver

One girl recorded the attack on her smartphone, with the footage later posted to a Snapchat page which promoted fights in NSW schools, compounding the trauma for Kristy.

The family reported the incident to the police and were encouraged to take out an AVO against her attacker, but the difficulty in navigating the court system and Kristy’s ongoing anguish meant they decided to cut their losses and move schools.

“She’s doing better, she obviously changed schools and has settled in well,” the girl’s mother said. “I’m still absolutely livid at the situation. Schools need more power to address these issues, I don’t think they did nearly enough about it.”

Parent Simone Muir also expressed frustration after students at her son’s school, Brisbane Water Secondary College at Umina on the Central Coast, created a Snapchat fight club group to incite and celebrate fights.

She said the chat group was taken down but this year had started off no better with several fights in the first few days of school alone.

Simone Muir says fighting is out of control at her son’s school on the Central Coast. Picture: Sue Graham

“The violent culture among the students at the school is extremely unsettling for my son and other students who are fearful for their safety,” she said.

“I do not believe the school administration is doing enough to protect my son and the students of the school.

“Since my son started Year 7 at BWSC I have phoned the school administration more than six times about traumatic and violent incidents where my son has suffered physical and emotional harm. I have not received any response from the school with regards to any procedures being put in place to improve the safety for my son or other students.”

Ms Muir said over the past two years her son had been jumped on and punched in the head and repeatedly threatened by boys to either “vape” or be bashed.

She said frustrated parents, with seemingly no where else to go, were left to vent on private Facebook pages.

Students have created fight club groups online that incite and celebrate violence.

The Daily Telegraph has uncovered hundreds of fight videos involving NSW schoolkids.

An Education Department spokesman said the violent incidents were “dealt with immediately”.

A Snapchat spokesman said the platform had “zero tolerance for any violent or threatening content and behaviour.

“It is against our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, and where it is detected or reported, we will remove it,” he said.

A NSW Police spokesman would not comment specifically on the schools in question, but did say it “proactively” works with all schools.

“NSW Police Force respond to calls for assistance and are available 24 hours a day to protect and serve the community, and also employs youth engagement officers to proactively work with schools and students,” he said.

* Name has been changed to protect her identity

Originally published as Class War: Girl’s schoolyard attack filmed and shared on Snapchat