Traralgon College students targeted in vile bullying posts

A string of vile social media bullying pages has emerged targeting students from Traralgon College, in Victoria’s east, with sickening jokes and comments.

Students say Traralgon College is rife with ongoing bullying on social media. Picture: AFP

A series of vile social media bullying pages targeting students in Latrobe Valley has emerged.

It comes less than a month after the Herald Sun revealed similar bullying social media pages targeting Greater Shepparton College students, with their frustrated parents calling for the school to take immediate action.

Students say Traralgon College is rife with ongoing bullying, with one pupil saying she was “desperate” to move schools and had witnessed fights on schoolgrounds and nearby the local shopping centre.

The Herald Sun has uncovered several hate pages on TikTok and Instagram, which target students at the school.

Hate pages have been found on TikTok and Instagram targeting students at the school.

The bullying pages – similar to those created by Greater Shepparton students – encourages students to play a “guess who” game by guessing the identity of the victims by listing the person’s nationality and other images of their characteristics.

Students then publicly comment on the photo by guessing the name of the student.

In one shocking image, a photo of a young female teenager’s hair is shown from behind with the caption: “Year 8, ugly as f---, hair like that but more yellow than blonde.”

A student’s sexuality is also targeted in another image, with sickening jokes made about them.

Another TikTok account, created by students, also rates females from the junior campus by posting videos of them and tagging them in the post.

One student, 15, said she had been targeted by bullies at the school.

“I desperately want to change schools because the bullying is so bad and there are fights all the time, but there’s nowhere else you can really go,” she said.

“They (the bullies) have shared my photos around on group chats on social media and they have sent me nasty messages.

“I’ve done nothing wrong to them and sometimes you become a target for no reason.”

Traralgon College is said to have taken strong action over the posts.

The Herald Sun also witnessed a group of female students from the school verbally abusing each other at the bus stop outside Traralgon Centre Plaza last week.

One female student said to another student: “I don’t have drugs f--- off,” while pushing her.

Protective service officers were also seen patrolling near the bus stop on most evenings.

A Department of Education spokesman said the college had taken strong action in relation to incidents of bullying, with disciplinary action for the perpetrators and full support for impacted students.

“Social media providers have a critical role to play in preventing the publication of content that promotes bullying – and we are continuing to raise this issue with the platforms directly,” he said.

“As part of the reform of the state’s mental health system, the Victorian government is delivering extra mental health services in the Latrobe Valley and across Gippsland tailored to young people, making sure they can access the support they need, close to home.”

The school has a mental health practitioner and a student wellbeing team, including a youth, social worker and a chaplain.

The college is now running an eSafety program and a mental health program specifically addressing online bullying and the impact it can have.

It also has a strong partnership with Traralgon Police to work on online and general safety.