Person claiming to be Knox Grammar staff member speaks out after group chat scandal

A person claiming to be a Knox Grammar staff member has defended the school and answered questions in the wake of the sickening group chat scandal.

An anonymous person claiming to be a staff member at Sydney’s Knox Grammar School has posted online offering to answer questions in the wake of the recent group chat scandal.

The unnamed person posted to the Reddit Sydney group telling users to “ask me anything” and claiming to work at the elite school.

They shared a picture of their Knox Grammar email address with their name blocked out as “evidence” of their employment.

A moderator for the group also claimed the user had sent through proof of their employment.

Knox Grammar became embroiled in scandal last week after The Daily Telegraph exposed the vile images and language being used in the private Discord chatroom involving a number of students.

In the chat, titled Gang Gang, users reportedly shared videos that appeared to show young men being raped and comments that referenced wanting to be a paedophile and raping children.

Some of the names of the accounts were Ni**er Removal Service and Fa**othater3000.

There were numerous anti-Semitic and racist comments, while confronting remarks were made about women and abortions.

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A person claiming to be a staff member at Knox Grammar School has taken to social media. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The chat appeared to be active for about two years and featured current students, former students and their friends.

A number of students have been suspended from the $35,000 a year school and others have left.

The person claiming to be a staff member at the school answered a number of questions from Reddit users and, in many of their replies, defended Knox Grammar School.

The poster claimed the majority of their students were “wonderful people” but said there were definitely some kids who are “very closed minded”.

“Is the real problem an unbridled sense of privilege and I can’t be touchedness?” one Reddit user asked.

The poster claimed that some of the students have a privileged “north shore thinking attitudes whereby they are quite close minded about the world.

“However, this does not represent every student and some students in the school are indeed humble and respectful. Personally, I have not felt the ‘I can’t be touchedness attitude’ from any of my students,” they said.

“Despite this, the school does push the agenda of being a ‘Knox boy’ and that it is an elite private school. (I guess to tell students to be grateful)”

The poster claimed there always seemed to be a “group of bad students” in each year group, but claimed private schools were “constantly being targeted by the media because it makes good headlines”.

“While I will admit that the actions of those kids are horrible and should be punished, I am sure this stuff happens at other schools,” they said.

Several students have either left or been suspended by the school. Picture: Daily Telegraph

When questioned about whether the school was actually doing anything to “change the festering misogyny it breeds”, the poster hit back, saying the school was taking action and there had been multiple talks from the headmaster about “how to be a normal person in society”.

They claimed the school was ding “all it can” to prevent young men from “having these thoughts” but said students who go rogue online are “beyond the school’s control.

“The school’s responsibility is to educate these kids so that they do not hold flawed or extremist opinions,” they said.

“Knox has tried to educate these kids through a number of methods such as hosting assemblies or speeches that addresses issues such as toxic masculinity which is often the root of many issues that linger in private boy schools.

“How else is the school supposed to patrol what the kids do outside of the campus? We have tried our best.”

The person claimed the school has addressed topics such as toxic masculinity and being a responsible member of society, but claimed it is “really hard” to control some students who believe they are superior because of their wealth or power.

“We don’t promote hate towards any other group or encourage any of the behaviours in the discord chat,” they wrote.

The user then put the blame back on the parents of the children, saying “elitism is a trait that comes from one’s family”.

A letter from Knox Grammar Headmaster, Scott James. Picture: Supplied

Knox Grammar school at Wahroonga.

They did agree that Knox creates an “elite” environment by emphasising how privileged the students are to attended such a school.

“A lot of students know that attending Knox does not shield them from the issues in the world and that they, just like the rest of the state, have to work hard,” they said.

“The minority is often the loudest and the loudest are often the ‘bad apples’. Rest assured, many Knox students are good people, it’s just the minority that is spoiling them.”

The person claimed many people they had spoken to in the school community were “not surprised” by the vile content being shared on the chatroom.

“Many students I’ve talked to seem to think that ‘kids are kids’. Though they strongly disagree with the more extreme stuff such as the alleged sharing of child abuse material on the discord,” the person wrote.

In a letter to parents last week, Knox Grammar principal Scott James, confirmed that several students had been suspended or left the school.

He said the boys posted “inappropriate images and engaged in offensive commentary” and their actions did not reflect the school’s education standards or expectations of its students.

“I am writing to inform you about action the school has taken following an incident involving several boys from the senior school,” Mr James wrote.

“The nature of these posts is contrary to the values and culture of Knox and is unacceptable.

“The actions of these boys do not reflect a Knox education or the expectations that we place on our students to be respectful and responsible citizens in the community.”

Material from the group chat has been provided to NSW Police.

Child abuse and sex crimes squad commander Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty confirmed specialist detectives were reviewing it.

Originally published as Person claiming to be Knox Grammar staff member speaks out after group chat scandal