Emmaus College principal’s letter to parents after mass vaping video

Investigations into a mass vaping at a regional Queensland school are continuing, with the Education Minister calling the incident ‘very concerning’. Read the principal’s full letter to parents.

Emmaus College’s investigation into a mass vaping video is continuing, as the school continues to work through the fallout of the incident.

It is understood more than 30 students involved in the video have all been suspended, with speculation one student has already been expelled.

In the video, a large number of students are seen in the boys ‘L Block bathrooms’ sitting and standing around, with a hazy smoke in the room.

In the video students can be seen standing at the back of the bathroom with some using a vape.

Students can also be heard seemingly mocking the school’s motto ‘light my way’ and referring to the gathering in the toilet block as a ‘community builder’.

Vulgar language, including the words ‘f---ing’ and ‘c---’ are also heard being used in the video by students.

On Thursday Emmaus College Principal Eamon Hannan said the school’s leadership team was having conversations with the families involved.

“As you would understand, Emmaus College respects the privacy of the families of the students involved in this matter,” he said.

A number of students have been suspended from Emmaus College Rockhampton after a video surfaced of students vaping in a toilet block.

“It would be inappropriate to provide any ongoing commentary on the sensitive and respectful discussions that Emmaus College Leadership are having with these families.

“As the safety and wellbeing of students at Emmaus is our highest priority, students have always participated in education programs that include highlighting the health and wellbeing dangers associated with vaping.

“These student wellbeing education programs will remain an important part of the holistic curriculum that we provide for our students.”

Mr Hannan sent a letter to Emmaus College families last week confirming the video had circulated on social media, saying it was a “clear breach” of the schools expectations of student behaviour.

In the letter Mr Hannan said he made the decision to suspend the students involved for “varying lengths of time”.

“I wrote to you yesterday advising of an incident that recently occurred at Emmaus College where the behaviour of some students in a video circulating on social media did not align with our College Values, or the general expectations of our wider school community, and was in clear breach of our expectations of student behaviour,” the letter, dated March 10, said.

“I also advised you in that correspondence that the incident was being investigated in accordance with our college procedures.

“Whilst the investigation is still ongoing, I have taken the decision to suspend the students involved for varying lengths of time pending the results of the investigation.

“This decision was not taken lightly but reflects my commitment and the commitment of the College’s Leadership Team to always maintain the safety and wellbeing of our staff and students as our highest priority.

“This priority commitment to safety and wellbeing certainly extends to the students who have been suspended and we will do all we can to ensure they and their families are appropriately supported during the suspension period.

“I can assure you that quality teaching and learning is continuing as normal at Emmaus College in a safe and secure environment.

“I thank you for your ongoing support of the College community and once again please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions.”

Education Minister Grace Grace said the footage of the mass vaping was “very concerning”. Pic: Tara Croser.

The mass vaping video emerged just days after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called an inquiry into vaping.

Education Minister Grace Grace said footage of students in Rockhampton vaping en masse was “very concerning”, calling on the community and parents to join the government’s fight against the insidious device making children nicotine addicts.

“It is concerning to see young people, young adults taking up vaping thinking that it is something safe to do,” she said.

“And often parents will say look, it really isn’t a problem. It’s just bubblegum or it’s just watermelon or it’s just lime.

“Look, the Premier and I are very concerned we want to ensure that we can inform them (and) we know that schools can’t do this alone. We need the community, we need parents.

“We need the Cancer Council, we need all community to work together because this is growing in the two years it’s even grown more to when we first knew about vaping.

“It is very concerning, which is why we are 100 per cent behind the Premier with the inquiry that’s being launched.”