Sunshine Coast schools named in Tik Tok cyber-bullying videos

Disturbing Tik Tok accounts are identifying Sunshine Coast school students and labelling them as “ugly”, “pretty” or the “biggest man w----s”.

Disturbing videos and social media accounts using Sunshine Coast school logos and branding students as “man w----s” and “ugly” have emerged online.

The videos, shared to Tik Tok, are posted by accounts naming Sunshine Coast schools and using their logos as profile pictures.

The Sunshine Coast Daily discovered more than 10 accounts on the app, using state and private school logos as the calling cards including Nambour, Meridan and Chancellor state colleges, St John’s College in Nambour and Caloundra State High School.

There is no suggestion these are official school accounts or the schools are involved with them.

Nambour State College’s logo was displayed as a profile picture for one account, which branded two teenagers as “man w----s” and shared screenshots of their social media accounts.

The now deleted video had more than 5100 views.

Another account was naming and showing images of children portrayed as students of Chancellor College.

One of the accounts had one video identifying "man w----s" at a Nambour school. The video showed this title card and then screenshots from two students' social media pages, complete with their usernames. The account has since been deleted.

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As at March 15 the video naming the “ugly” students under a Chancellor logo had garnered more than 800 views.

In another video, a boy is singled out via an image of his face and his first name.

That video had more than 70 views.

The account has since been deleted.

Another account using the St John’s College logo used photos of staff and students to create memes and parody videos.

A screenshot from one of the accounts branding students "ugly". The video started with a photo of the school banner, and then showed screenshots of the student with their first name and grade. The account has since been taken down.

A Department of Education and Training spokesman said the department was aware of the accounts.

He said all state schools actively promoted the safe and positive use of social media and the internet through classroom discussions about its impact in the school and the wider community.

“The department has a dedicated team to assist schools to quickly address online safety issues and provide cyber safety professional development opportunities for school staff, students and school leaders,” he said.

“The department is aware of some social media accounts featuring inappropriate content and we are working with social media platforms to have the content removed.

“Students and families are encouraged to report any incidents of inappropriate online behaviour relating to their school to their principal.”

He said individuals could also contact the eSafety Commissioner for support or to lodge a complaint.

St John’s College Nambour declined to comment.

Disturbing videos and social media accounts using Sunshine Coast school logos and branding students as “man whores” and “ugly” have emerged online. Photo: iStock

PhD student at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Thompson Institute, which is dedicated to researching and addressing mental health issues in today’s society, Lia Mills said cyber-bullying had worsened with the continued growth and popularity of technology and social media.

Her research suggested cyber-bullying rates on the Sunshine Coast was relatively low for children around 12-years-old, but this is expected this would worsen as these children get older and use social media more.

However, she said it was predicted cyber-bullying rates in younger age groups would increase as social media use becomes more dominant.

She said research showed introducing responsible use of social media and technology from a young age, or the age of a child engaging with social media, reduced the growth and impact of cyber-bullying.

“Teachers and parents are key to this by introducing and encouraging social media literacy, so that (children) understand what cyber bullying is and how damaging it can be,” she said.

For parents and teachers with children being cyberbullied, Miss Mills said parental and teacher support was vital. This is the same case with children suspected to be cyberbullies.

“That can be anything from showing understanding or comforting them when they’re upset,” she said.

“If you know your kid is on social media, let them know they can come to you for support and check in with them.”