Remember when: Miami High teachers and students denied claims of drug usage and bashings

MIAMI High School teachers and students angrily denied a student’s claim of marijuana smoking, stand-over tactics and bashings at the school’s campus.

Gold Coast History: Gold Coast Bulletin 1977, April 13. Front page.

Gold Coast Bulletin, Wednesday April 13, 1977

MIAMI High School teachers and students angrily denied a student’s claim of marijuana smoking, stand-over tactics and bashings at the school’s campus.

And at Palm Beach-Currumbin High the principal, Robert Walker, launched an investigation into claims of drug trafficking at the school.

At Miami, 1600 teachers and students appeared shocked when principal Bill Callinan at assembly read a newspaper story reporting claims of drug abuse at Gold Coast high schools.

Students later elected 12 members from their ranks to meet with Mr Callinan.

Mr Callinan said the students told him the claims were untrue and that they wanted to aid in writing a statement denying them.

“We are sick to death of being maligned unjustly and branded as the drug centre of Australia,” they said in their statement.

Gold Coast History: Gold Coast Bulletin 1977, April 13. Front page.

The students also claimed that fellow student Warren Stapleton, then 13, had been “taken advantage of”.

In a metropolitan newspaper story Warren was quoted as claiming some Miami students sat around class “glassy eyed all day” and that they “just gaze around”.

Palm Beach-Currumbin High student Jean Schltz, then-15, was quoted as saying she could buy marijuana “any time” at her school.

The Miami student committee said it “condemned” the newspaper for what it described as “irresponsible reporting”.

Mr Callinan said “student representatives categorically deny standover tactics and bashings”.

“Students are angry at the fact that they are being maligned again without evidence.”