TikTok bans account targeting students at high schools in region where three kids have taken their own lives

A TikTok account that had been targeting students in the NSW region where three kids have taken their own lives has been shutdown.

A TikTok account that had been posting “disturbing” videos about students in an area where three children have taken their own lives recently has now been banned.

The social media giant confirmed it had banned the account @welcometowaggax which had still been active yesterday when news.com.au revealed videos had been widely circulated in the Riverina area, reportedly picturing students from at least three high schools in the community.

“At TikTok, the safety of our community – in particular our younger users – is our priority,” a spokeswoman confirmed this morning.

“We deeply understand the psychological distress that abusive content can have on individuals and we are committed to keeping our users safe from targeted harassment or negativity.

“We remove all expressions of abuse and take actions including banning accounts. We encourage our global TikTok community to report any inappropriate content they may come across and we continue to work closely with authorities as part of our ongoing commitment to safety.”

Rocky Cavanagh, 14, who took his own life on May 17, leaving family and friends shocked, had seen the videos being shared.

His mother Bianca Lyons said while she did not believe they were linked to his death, he was “quite upset over them” because they featured his aunties who were around the same age as him.

She said the videos labelled young students as “Wagga Wagga wh**es and sl*ts”.

Screenshots of videos from the @welcometowaggax account showed some of the recent posts were labelled “Wagga Wagga High School’s biggest hoes” and “Mount Austin High School’s biggest gronk”.

“They were very demeaning,” Ms Lyons told news.com.au.

Her mother, Laura Lyons, said she took the matter further with the principal of Mount Austin.

“There needs to be some accountability,” she said.

“Everyone saw them. When they were taken down, they just put another one up.

“(Rocky) was quite upset over them.”

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The account that had been sharing videos about students from local high schools in the NSW Riverina region has now been banned.

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Lauren Rafferty, 12, was a student at Kooringal High who took her own life on Mother’s Day after mental health struggles.

Her mother, Rachelle, previously told media she wanted to “address the conjecture from the community regarding bullying”.

“Lauren suffered the same level of bullying that any girl of her age does – which is still unacceptable,” she said.

While Lauren’s family have not publicly addressed any social media concerns, Rocky’s family said everyone in the community was being impacted.

“I was that traumatised by Lauren’s suicide, I went to the school (Mount Austin) and spoke to the principal because I had this instinct it might have been a contributing factor,” Laura Lyons said.

“It affected us so deeply, she was only age 12.”

Others on social media said they were “disgusted” and found the videos “sickening” and “disgraceful”.

The body of a 17-year-old girl was also found on Sunday after she went missing from Griffith on May 20 but her family have not spoken publicly about her death.

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Lauren Rafferty, 12, and Rocky Cavanagh, 14, both took their own lives in recent weeks.

Regional suicide epidemic nobody talks about

The three deaths have raised concerns about the lack of mental health support and services for young people in the area, particularly the lack of school counsellors.

NSW MP for Murray, Helen Dalton, said regional suicide was the epidemic that nobody spoke about.

“The Murrumbidgee region has a suicide rate almost three times that of Sydney,” she said.

“But we have far fewer mental health services.”

Ms Dalton said not one hospital in her electorate, with an area of 107,000sq km, had a mental health unit.

“Twenty years ago, our suicide rate was about the same as Sydney,” she said.

“But as government neglects small towns and centralises services in Sydney, mental health problems in the bush increase.”

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Rocky’s mum Bianca says he’d seen the social media videos.

Lauren’s mum Rachelle says she was bullied just like any other girl.

A concerned parent in the area told news.com.au one of the things he found “most shocking” was the lack of school counsellors available.

“This lack of available support surely has some weight when it comes to these terrible tragedies,” he said.

Ms Dalton said many rural schools did not have a full-time counsellor, maybe someone who came in once or twice a week.

“A child can’t see a counsellor when they’re distressed, they have to make an appointment and wait weeks,” she said.

“It’s not mandatory for schools to teach either teachers or students about cyber bullying, and many rural schools don’t have the resources to do so.

“Overworked teachers are forced to do the job of parents and counsellors, often without proper training,”

She said the NSW Department of Education had “completely dropped the ball” when it came to cyber bullying.

“I’ve talked to a number of young people who feel they have nowhere to go when they’re relentlessly targeted online,” she said.

“There’s also still a real stigma around seeking mental health support in rural communities.

“We need an education campaign to let people know it’s OK to ask for help, and funding for the resources to provide it.”

Mount Austin High is holding a parent and carer information session on Thursday night around mental health, suicide prevention and grief and loss.

“Recently a number of schools within Wagga Wagga and surrounds have been impacted by loss,” their flyer reads.

“Locally we have seen an increase in parents and carers seeking information and resources on how to have challenging conversations with their children.”

The panel will include experts from Headspace and local mental health and support services.

Wagga Police are reportedly aware of the TikTok videos.

The NSW Police Media Unit declined to comment on questions from news.com.au.

A NSW Education spokeswoman said the suicide of a child or young person was a tragedy that had devastating ramifications on families, and had a long and lasting impact on friends and peers, as well as on the school and broader community.

“The factors that contribute to a young person tragically taking their own life are varied and complex,” she said.

“Suicide prevention requires a system-wide and multifaceted approach – schools certainly play a part in this, however it is critical that students and their families are also aware of the external services available to them which provide specialised support to the broader community.

“The Department works closely with national stakeholders such as the eSafety Commissioner and youth mental health organisation, headspace, to share information that will assist in a co-ordinated response to support students, schools, parents/carers and the school community with bullying – online and face-to-face - and the mental wellbeing of students.

“We are also mindful of the crucial role that parents – as the most important educators of children – play in supporting this work.”

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