Brisbane Boys’ College pulls controversial ‘spirit booklet’ after staff outrage

Brisbane Boys’ College has forced to remove a controversial “spirit booklet” after profiles of students with inappropriate references were included.

Brisbane Boys College at Toowong came under fire after a controversial student booklet was published.

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Brisbane Boys’ College staff have described a booklet sent internally throughout the school as “appalling” after it was mistakenly sent without approval and quickly removed.

The elite Toowong-based school sent out a “spirit booklet” including profiles of students with inappropriate references below their pictures including nicknames, height, bios and hobbies.

In the booklet, one boy gave himself the nickname of “Fake Light Skin” while another said he was “7 feet (7’6 on a good day)” and his occupation was “Skibidi Rizzler”.

It refers to the term “Riz” that students use to describe someone who has charisma as well as “Skibidi” which is another slang term originating from a viral cartoon series on YouTube called “Skibidi Toilet”.

Another student was also listed with a nickname of Park Ji Sung (in reference to a retired footballer who played for Manchester United) and that he was a rice farmer.

Brisbane Boys' College at Toowong principal Andre Casson confirmed the booklet was taken down. Picture: David Clark

Another student put “phone disposal” as his hobby which is understood to have been a reference to having various burner phones while another said his hobby was “long early morning walks through the streets of Brisbane”.

A staff member said the spirit booklet had been up for about six to eight hours before it was taken down.

“My colleague was reading it and was like ‘oh my god,’” they said.

“The teaching staff were like ‘this is disgusting’.”

The staff member said they were “not surprised” students had written what they did, but were surprised it had been put out into the community.

“I was really shocked at a failure of editing,” they said.

The booklet also included what is understood to be war cry’s for the school, speeches from student leadership and photos of the prefects.

Examples of the Brisbane Boys' College spirit booklet. Picture: Supplied

BBC Headmaster Andre Casson said the purpose of the spirit booklet was to share new war cries and other spirit-building activities with students to foster camaraderie and enhancing school spirit.

Mr Casson said the booklet was immediately removed from the school’s internal communication platform ‘Highlands’ once the mistake was identified.

“All student-led projects, including the spirit booklet, are reviewed by staff before being shared with the broader community to ensure they align with the school’s values and expectations, however, on this occasion, the draft booklet was mistakenly uploaded before the review process was completed.”

“The content included in the draft booklet was not reflective of the behaviour expected of a “Gentleman of Honour” at Brisbane Boys’ College. The college does not condone derogatory or offensive language and apologises for any offence caused.”

Mr Casson said the college acknowledged there was”always room to do better”.

“The college is committed to educating all students on the values and policies of the school, ensuring they understand the impact of their actions and the importance of maintaining respectful communication in line with the expectations of the BBC community,” he said.

“BBC has implemented a P-12 Curriculum, Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:PC) and continues to build partnerships with external organisations to ensure our students have impactful opportunities to learn and grow. These initiatives are an important part of our commitment to fostering a respectful, inclusive, and supportive environment for all members of the BBC community.”