Leading psychologist weighs in on ‘glamorised’ Geelong High School attack

A leading psychologist has blamed social media for normalising a brutal schoolyard assault that left a 13-year-old with swelling and bruising.

A leading adolescent psychologist says social media has “normalised, glamorised and sanitised” violence after video footage of a schoolyard assault was allegedly shared on social media.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said while “mean girl” cultures have always existed, the rise of sharing disputes on social media brought them to the forefront of attention.

“There is no doubt that social media – the great envy amplifier – has, I think normalised, glamorised and sanitised violence and certainly brought it to the forefront of our attention,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.

“The takeaway from this is that parents, schools and the community need to do more to teach conflict resolution, anger management and problem solving.”

The Geelong Advertiser revealed on Tuesday that police cautioned a 12-year-old girl for unlawful assault in relation to a schoolyard incident.

High school assault on a girl at Geelong High School.

Video footage shows the 13-year-old year 8 student was approached by another girl at Geelong High School who pushed the victim against a wall before throwing punches.

The 30 second clip, allegedly shared on Snapchat, shows the victim then being thrown to the ground as multiple punches are thrown.

While it’s understood police have no evidence to suggest the sharing of violent footage on social media is encouraging others to get involved in fights or brawls, officers have slammed the behaviour.

Geelong Acting Superintendent Peter Nichol said assault was a criminal offence.

“Police simply do not condone the sharing of any footage across social media that glorifies violence,” Supt Nichol said.

“Assault is a criminal offence with serious consequences – it is absolutely not something to be celebrated or shared for entertainment purposes.

“If you witnessed an assault or have been a victim of this kind of violence, we strongly encourage you to contact police immediately so the matter can be immediately investigated.”

Geelong based headspace chief executive officer Jason Trethowan said the number of cyber-bullying reports among young people was concerning.

Attacker returns to victim to kick her in the back.

“It is really worrying that the numbers of reported cyber-bullying experiences in young people remain so high as the impacts of bullying and cyber-bullying can be significant and long lasting,” he said.

“We can see from the research that things aren’t getting better in this space and now is the time to do more.”

headspace’s head of clinical leadership Nick Duigan said research highlighted an alarming trend in online behaviour among young people.

“We know that being bullied is associated with an increased risk of experiencing anxiety, depression and self-harming behaviours.

“This is really concerning, but also presents us with an opportunity to help create change.”

He urged parents to talk about the issue with their children and visit the headspace website for more information.

Police probe Geelong High School fight

Police are investigating a violent schoolyard attack after a 13-year-old girl was allegedly left with bruises and swelling.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Sergeant Anita Brens said a 12-year-old girl was interviewed by police on Monday and was cautioned for unlawful assault.

Video footage shows the 13-year-old year 8 student was approached by another girl at Geelong High School who pushed the victim against a wall before throwing punches.

The 30 second clip, allegedly shared on Snapchat, shows the victim then being thrown to the ground as multiple punches are thrown.

The girl, who is not shown to retaliate, is later assisted by another student.

The alleged victim’s mother told the Geelong Advertiser she was “furious” her daughter had been subjected to an assault on school grounds.

“I was really angry and disgusted that she endured that and that other students see it as entertainment,” the mother, who declined to be named, said.

“They upload it to Snapchat and other outlets.”

Sergeant Brens said investigations were ongoing and police had been told the girl was assaulted by another teen about 1.30pm on Thursday.

“The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and torso,” Sergeant Brens said.

A 13-year-old girl was allegedly left with bruises.

It is the third alleged assault involving teenage girls that the Geelong Advertiser has reported on in six months.

The mother said the video had been circulating on social media since Thursday which caused further trauma to her daughter.

She said schools needed to have stronger policies addressing physical fighting to curb violence in the school yards.

“What would have to happen for someone to fall back, hit their head on concrete and be injured or die?” she said.

The mother said violence was “getting really bad”, should not be accepted and must stop.

“You can kill someone with a punch,” she said.

“People see it as schoolyard bullying, but people die from it.”

A Department of Education spokesman confirmed the incident and said any form of violence and bullying in schools was “completely unacceptable”.

High school assault on a girl at Geelong High School.

“Geelong High School has taken strong action in relation to this incident and is providing full support to the impacted students,” he said.

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

It’s understood students are not permitted to have their phones on them during school hours.

Last month, following an incident involving teen girls at Corio Village, Deakin University’s Bianca Klettke, a leading academic in the field of cyber psychology, said filming such incidents, rather than intervening, was “almost a form of secondary bullying”.

“It perpetuates the conflict,” she said.

A spokeswoman for eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in cases of school fights uploaded to online platforms, gratuitous depictions of real violence that were excessively detailed or prolonged may be subject to take-down action under the strengthened Online Safety Act.

Originally published as Leading psychologist weighs in on ‘glamorised’ Geelong High School attack