Parents say Glen Eira College overrun with online bullies

Glen Eira College has been labelled “unsafe” by parents after multiple social media bullying pages revealed cruel memes posted by students, mocking fellow pupils and teachers.

A school in Melbourne’s inner south has been labelled as “toxic” and “unsafe” by parents, who say it has become overrun with bullies taunting students online.

The Herald Sun can reveal Glen Eira College has almost 10 social media bullying pages on TikTok and Instagram, with students posting cruel memes, mocking other students and teachers, before flashing an identifiable photo of their target.

It’s also understood that a “vicious assault” between two students took place last year on school grounds, with the matter believed to be reported to police.

Some shocking examples of the bullying include social media posts where teachers’ appearances are mocked and mental health parodied.

The material includes offensive anonymous polls about students relationships, appearances and serious sexual assault allegations.

A mother, whose 13-year-old daughter attends the school, said online bullying was “rife” at the college.

“My daughter was bullied on Snapchat by a group of girls, they said awful things to her and constantly taunted her,” she told the Herald Sun.

“I’m aware of several bullying pages and I think the school has become very unsafe. There is also a page where students conduct nasty anonymous polls about each other.”

Another parent, whose son attends the school, said he also noticed offensive memes being posted about teachers.

Some shocking examples of the bullying include social media posts where teachers’ appearances are mocked and mental health parodied.

“I think the students involved in this behaviour need to take a real hard look at themselves. The school has become very toxic and bullying needs to stop,” he said.

“I’ve reported the TikTok pages for several months but nothing happened, the allegations are very damaging to students and teachers’ mental health.”

TikTok has now removed some of the offensive pages after inquiries from the Herald Sun.

TikTok country trust and safety policy manager Jed Horner said TikTok’s highest priority was the safety of its community, particularly our younger users.

“We do not tolerate bullying and act swiftly to remove this type of content from our platform,” he said.

“We have removed the videos in question for breaching our community guidelines.

“They were only recently created, so they had very few views. Our guidelines clearly state what is and isn’t acceptable on the platform and we actively remove content that breaches them.”

A Department of Education spokesman said social media platforms had a responsibility to users and their communities to address incidents of bullying, which can cause real harm and distress, particularly in the case of minors.

“The department again calls on social media platforms to act in preventing the publication of content that promotes bullying and violence,” he said.

All schools have policies in place to address any incidents of violence or bullying.

Where incidents of online bullying do occur, Victorian government schools take strong responsive action, including disciplinary action where appropriate.