Teen boy charged after violent attack Whyalla Secondary College

A boy has been charged over an attack on a fellow student at Whyalla, the latest in a series of escalating fights at the school – which are filmed for social media.

A young student has been charged with assault following an alleged violent attack on a fellow pupil in Whyalla.

Footage of the incident, from week two of term one, shows a Whyalla Secondary College student allegedly punching a class mate as he cowers on a step on the school grounds.

A 15-year-old boy has been bailed after he was charged by police over the incident. He will appear in the Whyalla Youth Court on March 15.

EXCLUSIVE: Police have been called in to try to stop horrific schoolyard violence at one of SA's new super schools. 7NEWS can reveal a student has been criminally charged over the latest Whyalla attack as authorities try a drastic new approach to regain control. @ElspethHussey7pic.twitter.com/6jm704pApG

— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) February 8, 2023

A boy has been charged after a fight at Whyalla Secondary College. Picture: 7NEWS

Another fight, this one between two girls, was also videoed at the school. Picture: 7NEWS

More footage obtained by 7NEWS shows another fight between two young girls on the netball courts with other pupils encouraging their behaviour.

The video depicts one girl jumping on another before adults are seen to pull them apart.

Last week, a string of violent fights between schoolchildren at Whyalla Secondary College surfaced online on popular smartphone app Snapchat.

And it comes after a series of fights at the school in 2022 – a 15-year-old girl was charged over one attack that put another girl in hospital.

Andrew Gohl, from the education union, said that some students are motivated to record the footage for social media.

There are now calls for the school’s mobile phone ban – originally set to be introduced in term 3 – to be fast tracked.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said “leadership at Whyalla Secondary College met last night to discuss bringing the mobile phone ban in earlier than term 3, and the Education Department and I will do whatever we can to support them achieve that.”

“What is concerning though, is that bystanders are recording footage of fights, and egging-on the perpetrators for the express intention of getting footage to upload to social media platforms like TikTok,” he said.

Mr Boyer confirmed there are a “number of supports in place” at the college with a full-time mental health specialist soon to be introduced.

This comes after twenty South Australian high schools introduced a ban on mobile phone at the start of term one.

However, students quickly found a way around the pouches into which phones msut be placed at the beginning of each day.

The policy, which Labor pledged to implement as part of its 2022 state election promises, is already in place at 25 secondary education institutions.

Originally published as Teen boy charged after violent attack Whyalla Secondary College