St Rita’s College and Nudgee College embroiled in ‘smash or pass’ student rating scandal

Two elite Brisbane colleges are embroiled in a “smash or pass” student rating scandal, but outraged parents say the “potentially horrific” lists are rife in other schools.

A student “rating” scandal has exploded at St. Rita's College.

Parents of students at three prestigious Brisbane colleges have revealed “smash or pass” social media scandals are rife inschools amid a “culture of misogyny”.

St Rita’s College in Clayfield was this week embroiled in an online rating scandal after photos of an entire cohort were leaked.

St Rita’s deputy principal Catherine Allen issued a letter on Thursday, telling parents their daughters’ images had been “shared with another school”.

It is understood the photos – individual shots of students when they were in Year 7 – were shared by a Year 8 girl with a St Joseph’s Nudgee College boy who is a family friend.

“It has come to our attention that student identification photographs of the cohort have been shared with another school,” Ms Allen wrote.

The email was shared with students on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Supplied

“We have made contact with this school who are investigating this and will work to have this shared information removed.”

Nudgee College principal Scott Thomson emailed parents on Saturday afternoon, refuting allegations its boys “used social media to ‘rate’ the attractiveness of students from St Rita’s”.

“Last Thursday, we were told that a student at St Rita’s College had shared student identification photos of her cohort with a student at Nudgee College,” Mr Thomson wrote.

“This Nudgee College student then shared these photos with one other student, who shared them with a small number of students.

“We are not aware that they were shared publicly on social media or used in any way (other than being shared).”

One St Rita’s parent said he was “sickened” to learn his daughter’s identity and school had been shared online.

“The school has handled it really well, but there is no escaping that kids have been violated,” he said.

Another parent said his daughter had been told the photographs were uploaded to Tik Tok so they could be “rated” based on physical appearance.

“Something like this is indicative of a culture of misogyny,” he said.

“I’m quite angry about it. I’m angry that this happened especially in this day and age. It’s degrading. If they’re doing that at 13 what are they going to be like as adults?”

A Nudgee parent told The Courier-Mail that “our boys are better than this”.

“We want our boys to grow into respectful young men, and this type of behaviour is just unacceptable,” they said.

Nudgee College students have become embroiled in a “smash or pass” student rating scandal. Picture: Tertius Pickard

An All Hallows’ School parent said the “smash or pass” rating game was rife in Brisbane schools.

“These ‘hot or not hot’ things are everywhere and they are incredibly damaging to kids – the fallout is potentially horrific,” she said.

Mr Thomson said the incident was immediately investigated by Nudgee College on Thursday.

“The students explained what had happened and expressed their genuine remorse at sharing the photos. The material shared was removed from devices,” he wrote.

“The sharing of these photos among the students is not acceptable and does not meet the standards expected of the college.

”This matter is now being dealt with confidentiality and in line with the college’s policies.

“We have not been able to find any evidence that a ‘rating’ game occurred despite extensive checks.”

Parents say lists rating students were rife in both private and state schools across Queensland.

Nudgee College was contacted for comment four hours before Mr Thomson released his statement to the school community.

St Rita’s College was also contacted for comment.

It comes a month after a Gold Coast teenager was charged after he allegedly made an online list ranking female students and categorising them as “unrapeable” and “abduction material”.

The 17-year-old Coomera boy was charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.

He was dealt with under the youth justice act.

He was charged weeks after an Instagram account uncovered rankings of teenage girls from a high school, putting them into categories such as “abduction material” and “one night stand” to “average” and “unrapeable”

At the time of the charges, Senior Sergeant Greg Aubort from Gold Coast District Child Protection and Investigation Unit said: “Police urge the community to remain vigilant and report any instances of cyber-bullying or online harassment”.

“Such behaviour not only affects the wellbeing of individuals but also carries significant legal ramifications,” Senior Sgt Aubort said.

Ms Allen advised parents that St Rita’s was “working to ensure the safety and privacy of our students”.