By Alex Crowe
Students at a girls’ school in Melbourne’s south-east are being warned of possible criminal prosecution after reports pupils were distributing pornographic images on campus.
Mentone Girls’ Secondary College has issued a letter telling parents that students had used mobile phones to share explicit images during school hours.
Mentone Girls’ Secondary College.Credit: Penny Stephens
Administrators told members of the school community that police had been informed and that an investigation had begun.
“We were immediately in contact with the Victorian Police who presented about this very topic to our junior students recently,” the school wrote in a letter seen by The Age.
“They have indicated their full support and will immediately investigate and prosecute anyone linked to this behaviour.”
Guardians and students have been asked to forward screenshots and pass on any information to the assistant principal to help with the investigation.
School staff told parents that they contacted families and the police on the same day they learnt the “disturbing news” about student behaviour.
Mentone Girls’ is a government school, the only one exclusively for girls in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
Mobile phone use is prohibited at the college during school hours, in accordance with Education Department policy.
“This is in direct breach of the department’s mobile phone policy, e-safety guidelines and also our duty of care as a community,” the school administrators wrote.
“Apart from assisting the police with their investigation, we will continue to support our students, many of whom are understandably distressed.
“We will also follow guidelines as provided by the E-Safety Commissioner.”
An Education Department spokesman said Mentone Girls’ Secondary College was supporting students who had reported the circulation of explicit images.
“The school informed Victoria Police and sent an advisory note to parents on Wednesday reiterating the school’s mobile phone use and e-safety policies,” the spokesman said.
“As this matter is under police investigation, inquiries should be directed to Victoria Police.”
The report of pornographic material being circulated by students came the day after members of the school community were invited to participate in an information session encouraging students to use technology safely.
Mentone Girls’ Secondary College invited parents to attend the online session run by cyber safety group ySafe on Tuesday.
“In this session, ySafe’s experts will cover key topics such [as] the social media platforms that kids are using and how to make them safer, research-based information on gaming and screen time, and step-by-step instructions on how to set up a cyber safe home,” ySafe said.
Mentone Girls’ Secondary College and Victoria Police have both been contacted for comment.
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correction
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mentone Girls’ Grammar invited parents to attend the online session run by cyber safety group ySafe.