11 November 2011

Lanyon High School - bullying

| sarah_07
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Are your kids names associated with this facebook page? “Tuggers Goss

It was brought to my attention last night by my daughter who attends Lanyon High School that students from this school are inciting bullying and harassment. The school has been contacted and one of the bullies has since been dealt with.

This page is one of many pages that seem to be appearing on Facebook, the content is disgusting and disturbing. Parents need to take more accountability for their kids’ actions and monitor what is being written on social media pages.

So please if you or your kids have a Facebook account take a few minutes out of your busy days and check that it is not your kids who are involved and if they are be responsible and deal with them and explain the consequences bullying can have.

I sent a message to the person calling themselves Tuggers Goss and advised them that the page has been reported.

Bullying will never stop if we do not do anything about it.

[ED – It is about as bad as it can be. But really just like seeing schoolyard gossip written down]

UPDATE: The page is no more.

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sarah_07 said :

Trolled! WTF
I do not see it as intervening more creating awareness of what is happening out there. As a parent I will do everything in my power to try and stop this sort of behaviour. I think as a teenager you would get over your parents intervening a lot quicker than being constantly bullied and being slandered.
Or do we as parents and members of the community turn a blind eye to this sort of behaviour and when a child becomes depressed and withdrawn and possibly worse self harm or commit suicide; we just say “well we didn’t want to learn the hard way and have kids develop bitch-itis in their 20’s”?

If kids at the age of 13,14 or 15 etc think they can get away with this sort of behaviour now what morals are they going to take into adulthood?

These kids are our next generation.

So if I am “piss weak” for creating awareness of what is happening in our community then it is a title I am happy to accept.

Mmm before replying, to be fair, I must explain to you that by posting that I was deliberately baiting somebody just like you to reply to me. You are the perfect example for my point – reactionary parenting; kneejerk responses to relatively unimportant events. I understand perfectly why parents do this, and it has little to do with the action that sparked your response – you’re just waiting for ANY reason to give your two cents on the subject, to try and make things better, and I totally get that; everyone wants to make things better for someone or something. My point is not that your intentions are misplaced, in fact I would say that they are amiable. All parents should take an active interest in their children’s lives. Instead, it is your reaction; your response which frustrates me – it is far too emotional, not thought-out – there is no focus, no direction, no endgame beyond your agreement that the page should be taken down. That is a lot of the reason why those kinds of reactions are treated with scorn by people that actually DO take the time to rationally think through their thoughts beyond “get angry” and “get angrier”.

On a slightly different note, you brought my post around and said that if it meant you were raising awareness, you were proud to be “piss weak” – you aren’t raising awarness of anything – people are already aware that bullying exists. But thanks for doing your bit, you proved another point of mine; you’re too invested in yourself to realise that by stepping in as your kid’s saviour, you are heaping MORE burden upon them as soon as you are out of the picture again. It is THEM who are seen as piss weak, not you. You’re just “x’s mum”, and thus your actions directly reflect upon your children. Sure, you might succeed in stopping the name calling (to their face), but you seem to have absolutely no regard for their reputation beyond that. Like I said above – no end-game, just reactionary crap that has the potential to do more harm than good.

I’m not saying don’t react, DO react – react with a solid strategy for improving the situation beyond the 1 dimension that you became “aware” of; enough of these half-baked reactions! What do you propose to do now that the page is taken down? I mean, clearly your actions have led to the stamping out of e-bullying as we know it – should you stop making people aware now? Or are there other pages to take down and make people aware of?

Pooks said :

I bet you watch Today Tonight, right? Enough said.

Mate, I don’t even have a television 😐 you keep at it with those predictions though champ, the important thing is that you keep on trying in the face of difficulty. Apparently goats testicles and yaks blood are pretty good for divining with – have you given those a whirl?

Henry82 said :

Jethro said :

Again, how is this ‘school’ bullying? It is happening online and being done from kids’ homes. .

I would reasonably expect a school to intervene if the issue is disrupting students or the school itself. If a kid went to school covered in bruises from abuse, i don’t think the school would say “oh it’s not our problem as it was done outside school hours”, they’d want to know how it was done.

Same occurs here, they’ve got kids being bullied in school as a result of things happening off campus. They can “try” to stop bullying on campus, or they could stop it at the source. They’ve got the best chance of stopping the issue anyway, they can round up the ring leaders and find out who is running the site. Even if the police did investigate, the first think they’d probably do is take the member list to the school, and try and identify the group of kids running the show.

Don’t get me wrong. I think schools have an incredibly important role in stopping bullying. It’s just that the undercurrent of this thread seems to be that this is a ‘school’ issue, not a wider social issue. There seems to be a lot of blame being placed on Lanyon High. Parents, families and communities all need to work to stop this type of behaviour. Too often it seems that schools are expected to do a parent’s job. Whenever there is a social issue, the knee-jerk response is, ‘they should be covering this at school.’

Jethro said :

I-filed said :

I had read about school online bullying but hadn’t seen its ferocity. I can’t believe parents aren’t protecting their children from this stuff.

Again, how is this ‘school’ bullying? It is happening online and being done from kids’ homes. The link with school is that kids go to school. Perhaps this type of bullying (particularly if it involves threats, defamation, possible child pr0n, etc) should be dealt with by the police. How can a school deal with bullying done at home, outside of school hours of a child from school X by a kid from school Y.

If a school chose to suspend a kid for this, their parents could conceivably make the argument that the school is reaching outside its jurisdiction.

It is when the bullying moves from the online world into the playground that the school needs to be held responsible for what happens.

How do you know it’s being done from their homes? Every new phone has easy access to Facebook. Not a stretch to think they’re doing it at school.

Jethro said :

Again, how is this ‘school’ bullying? It is happening online and being done from kids’ homes. .

I would reasonably expect a school to intervene if the issue is disrupting students or the school itself. If a kid went to school covered in bruises from abuse, i don’t think the school would say “oh it’s not our problem as it was done outside school hours”, they’d want to know how it was done.

Same occurs here, they’ve got kids being bullied in school as a result of things happening off campus. They can “try” to stop bullying on campus, or they could stop it at the source. They’ve got the best chance of stopping the issue anyway, they can round up the ring leaders and find out who is running the site. Even if the police did investigate, the first think they’d probably do is take the member list to the school, and try and identify the group of kids running the show.

2604 said :

LSWCHP said :

creative_canberran said :

The problems with Lanyon began many, many years ago…..

This sort of thing is why, to my astonishment, I’ve ended up sending my kids to private school.

Don’t be astonished. People’s opinions of which school system is best are nearly always ideologically driven until they have school-aged kids themselves, when they get pragmatic and start to focus on where their kid will learn the most and be happiest. The film Waiting for Superman was made in part because of its left wing director’s ambivalence about his choice of a private education for his own kids.

FWIW, I’m glad your decision has worked out well.

Thank you.

You are exactly right about how it went. I was committed to public education for my kids, until saw how it was panning out. So now I’m still ambivalent about my choice of schooling for my kids, but I see it as the lesser of two evils.

I had a look at that vile, odious, repugnant website, and felt like I needed a shower to clean the stench off. If what I saw there was written about my daughter, or my sons, I would be taking action.

That shit is well out of order, and needs to be addressed by the parents, the school, and the cops.

LSWCHP said :

creative_canberran said :

The problems with Lanyon began many, many years ago…..

This sort of thing is why, to my astonishment, I’ve ended up sending my kids to private school.

Don’t be astonished. People’s opinions of which school system is best are nearly always ideologically driven until they have school-aged kids themselves, when they get pragmatic and start to focus on where their kid will learn the most and be happiest. The film Waiting for Superman was made in part because of its left wing director’s ambivalence about his choice of a private education for his own kids.

FWIW, I’m glad your decision has worked out well.

I-filed said :

I had read about school online bullying but hadn’t seen its ferocity. I can’t believe parents aren’t protecting their children from this stuff.

Again, how is this ‘school’ bullying? It is happening online and being done from kids’ homes. The link with school is that kids go to school. Perhaps this type of bullying (particularly if it involves threats, defamation, possible child pr0n, etc) should be dealt with by the police. How can a school deal with bullying done at home, outside of school hours of a child from school X by a kid from school Y.

If a school chose to suspend a kid for this, their parents could conceivably make the argument that the school is reaching outside its jurisdiction.

It is when the bullying moves from the online world into the playground that the school needs to be held responsible for what happens.

p1 said :

Felix the Cat said :

I’m one of the rare people it seems who doesn’t have and has no interest in obtaining a Facebook page so I’m probably talkjing out of school here…but I can’t understand why everyone is getting bent out of shape about the ramblings of a few teenage girls on the internet. Just turn the computer off, or if you can’t do that just stay away from Facebook.

Easy for you to say, but to the average high school kid this is the equivalent of being gossiped about on page two of every newspaper in town, every single day, including colour photos, with the clippings mailed to all your friends (and enemies).

And it isn’t just gossip – there was a schoolgirl’s mobile number posted along with hideous remarks about her looks and claiming she had STDs. I had read about school online bullying but hadn’t seen its ferocity. I can’t believe parents aren’t protecting their children from this stuff.

Felix the Cat said :

I’m one of the rare people it seems who doesn’t have and has no interest in obtaining a Facebook page so I’m probably talkjing out of school here…but I can’t understand why everyone is getting bent out of shape about the ramblings of a few teenage girls on the internet. Just turn the computer off, or if you can’t do that just stay away from Facebook.

That & yu dont have to even visit the page. You can surf FB blissfully unaware of these pages & they will never affect your life.

I grew up in a small country town & while some of what was said on tha page is yuk (well the majority actually),it was really not much different to what used to go on when I was at school & later in life at the pub. The gossopers were rife & everbody thought they new the colour of your s*** before it hit the water. One of the reasons I live in Canberra, small towns can be poison.

Felix the Cat said :

I’m one of the rare people it seems who doesn’t have and has no interest in obtaining a Facebook page so I’m probably talkjing out of school here…but I can’t understand why everyone is getting bent out of shape about the ramblings of a few teenage girls on the internet. Just turn the computer off, or if you can’t do that just stay away from Facebook.

Easy for you to say, but to the average high school kid this is the equivalent of being gossiped about on page two of every newspaper in town, every single day, including colour photos, with the clippings mailed to all your friends (and enemies).

Felix the Cat7:13 pm 11 Nov 11

I’m one of the rare people it seems who doesn’t have and has no interest in obtaining a Facebook page so I’m probably talkjing out of school here…but I can’t understand why everyone is getting bent out of shape about the ramblings of a few teenage girls on the internet. Just turn the computer off, or if you can’t do that just stay away from Facebook.

Jeez, sounds like this Michael must have been the editor of Woroni in his previous job the way Creative-Canberran is going after him.

creative_canberran4:18 pm 11 Nov 11

victor said :

I rarely comment in social media and this is a good example of why. It is fine to have intelligent and constructive debate but when it ends up in the gutter with personal insults against individuals, and uses kid’s schools as public punching bags, it’s time to move on. Unfortunately social media often gives a platform and oxygen to those who cannot display basic courtesies. I am now rather sorry I was tempted to respond in the first place. Over and out.

victor said :

Perhaps some geography and statistics lessons are in order.

Practice what you preach?

victor said :

I’m just a parent with no links to any of the schools, principals, or teachers.

victor said :

My teenagers went to Lanyon High including during Michael Hall’s tenure and also during the current Principal’s tenure. They also went out of area to Erindale College by their choice due to the innovative approach to teaching and generally high standards that exist there, in part due to Michael’s progressive approach to teaching. They have excelled in these environments and have been well prepared for the self-discipline and study skills required for university.

Sounds like some strong links to me, at the very least of the fan club variety.

victor said :

They also went out of area to Erindale College by their choice due to the innovative approach to teaching and generally high standards that exist there, in part due to Michael’s progressive approach to teaching. They have excelled in these environments and have been well prepared for the self-discipline and study skills required for university.

This is my favourite, both because it’s very robotic writing and because it sounds like a commercial for Erindale… oh, and “Michael.”

In any case, I note again that Erindale is one of the worst, and many years is the worst performing college in the ACT according to independent results.

How is Michael’s teaching progressive?

What evidence can you provide of the innovative teaching and high standards at Erindale in light of it’s poor performance?

How would you respond to the fact that because of scaling calculations, your kids are disadvantaged against other students who attended higher performing colleges?

You wanted intelligent debate so here it is. Instead, you spent your time astroturfing the heck out of the issue then cried rude when evidence didn’t support your position.

creative_canberran said :

This is the biggest load of tripe I have ever seen, from an individual who is either linked to Hall or one of the schools mentioned ……/quote]

Sorry to disappoint you creative_canberran but I’m just a parent with no links to any of the schools, principals, or teachers. Your language suggests you have some pent up issues about something so whilst I would love to continue the debate and challenge more of your statements I don’t think you warrant it.

I rarely comment in social media and this is a good example of why. It is fine to have intelligent and constructive debate but when it ends up in the gutter with personal insults against individuals, and uses kid’s schools as public punching bags, it’s time to move on. Unfortunately social media often gives a platform and oxygen to those who cannot display basic courtesies. I am now rather sorry I was tempted to respond in the first place. Over and out.

Buzz2600 said :

Why is the school being blamed here? What about the parents? Shouldn’t they also be responsible for their children’s behaviour? Teachers are not police but they seem to be an easy target.

Captain RAAF – if you’re going to break some knees over this one, I’d be targetting the parents – so they’re fully aware of what their little darlings have been up to on-line.

I do not believe the school is being blamed and I am certainly not blaming the school. I do believe that our schools are the perfect channel for getting the message across to the kids and parents. I am constantly getting newsletters and notes sent home about head lice, teacher strikes excursions etc. Why not send a letter home to all parents once the school has become aware of bullying by a parent or concerned community member. Parents can then speak with their kids and check to make sure they are not the victim or possibly the offender.

creative_canberran1:42 pm 11 Nov 11

victor said :

creative_canberran said :

The problems with Lanyon began many, many years ago…..

and on and on goes creative_canberran’s rant…

My teenagers went to Lanyon High including during Michael Hall’s tenure and also during the current Principal’s tenure. They also went out of area to Erindale College by their choice due to the innovative approach to teaching and generally high standards that exist there, in part due to Michael’s progressive approach to teaching. They have excelled in these environments and have been well prepared for the self-discipline and study skills required for university.

creative_canberran seems to be doing the classic beat up of “problems” and avoiding providing any praise at all for anything positive that might have been, and is, being achieved at Lanyon. Like any public school that welcomes (or rather is required to take) all and sundry, (including those moved on from the private schools that couldn’t be bothered taking some responsibility for their students, or who ‘god’ forbid may lower the school’s academic results), Lanyon has no doubt had its share of difficult students. From our observation these students have been dealt with as best they can under ACT Education policies. Any failing in discipline is I think the sole responsibility of ACT Education which limits the power of schools to deal effectively with problem students. The softly softly approach still unfortunately seems to prevail in ACT Education policy areas which subscribe to the concepts of “choices” and “consequences”, rather than calling out bad behaviour for what is it…and punishing the students and removing them if necessary.

But back to creative_canberran….I would be curious to know if creative_canberran had children at Lanyon, and if so was creative_canberran actively involved in the school or were they one of these “hands off” parents that just relied on the rumour mill for their informative opinions?

And regarding the reference to a “brawl with over 200 students, from Lanyon and Mackillop broke out at the Lanyon shops”. I assume creative_canberran is referring to Erindale shops and the fracas that broke out a few years ago between some Mackillop and Erindale College students. Perhaps some geography and statistics lessons are in order.

And as to the fences…has creative_canberran not seen the fences appearing at every school in the ACT? Drawing a link to Lanyon High having the fences to “channel students to certain points to exit” is rather disingenuous.

And finally, “Achievement was a real problem, with special remedial maths classes introduced because test results were so poor in years 9 and 10”. Did creative_canberran read that sentence back to themself before pressing the submit button? I assume creative_canberran doesn’t consider introducing measures to improve the outcomes of students as being a positive thing?

We were fortunate to be able to choose between public and private schooling and have not had one day of regret for our choice. Our children have grown up observing the full range of society and behaviours, and are the wiser and stronger of mind for it. Along the way they have made some great friendships and have benefited from receiving a quality education from (in the majority of instances) excellent and dedicated teachers.

We know many of the kids who attended Lanyon and the vast majority were and are just normal (but talented!) kids doing normal kid things. A few bad eggs in amongst them shouldn’t provide an opportunity for uninformed individuals to take cheap shots at them, their school, and their teachers.

This is the biggest load of tripe I have ever seen, from an individual who is either linked to Hall or one of the schools mentioned, or who has a tap right next to the cold water specially for Cool-aid. It’s written like their entire knowledge of these schools is from the Principals welcome message. Sorry mate but first hand knowledge trumps it.

In any case, Erindale is one of the lowest (and many years is THE lowest) achieving college in the ACT according to average ATAR/UAI, and the number of students who attempt a TES.

The brawl was between Lanyon students and Mackillop students at the Lanyon Market Place and as reported on Win News the same night in 2006. It was the second incident that day, the first taking place on school grounds when a large number of Mackillop students circled the grounds before police arrived.

The remedial maths classes were introduced because of low achievement that was declining rather than improving as students progressed through grades. There was an admission that the way they were teaching maths wasn’t working and those higher up had noticed, hence the quick fix of remedial classes.

As for Erindale, I’ll let others talk about that:
Results from student survey:http://youtu.be/PW8M3TrLXKM?t=1m22s
(Note: the survey was of students with “high” UAI aspirations of “60 to 100″… erm, 60 is high?)

And teacher perceptions survey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCuMVzafawM

And finally, Hall um Michael um Hall um him um self: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZQ1zcfj5uQ
(an innovative approach to teaching from someone who struggles to string a preprepared statement together, please)

GardeningGirl12:21 pm 11 Nov 11

sarah_07 said :

I do not see it as intervening more creating awareness of what is happening out there. As a parent I will do everything in my power to try and stop this sort of behaviour.
If kids at the age of 13,14 or 15 etc think they can get away with this sort of behaviour now what morals are they going to take into adulthood?
These kids are our next generation.
So if I am “piss weak” for creating awareness of what is happening in our community then it is a title I am happy to accept.

If only there were more parents with that attitude. (Though I’m not letting the school, or any school, off the hook, a place where young people spend five days a week is definitely in a position to influence their lives for the better in the absence of adequate guidance at home.)

victor said :

Any failing in discipline is I think the sole responsibility of ACT Education which limits the power of schools to deal effectively with problem students. The softly softly approach still unfortunately seems to prevail in ACT Education policy areas which subscribe to the concepts of “choices” and “consequences”, rather than calling out bad behaviour for what is it…and punishing the students and removing them if necessary.

The official line from the department when we enquired about changing schools was that all government schools are equally excellent, but speaking to friends and neighbours we heard otherwise and learned that going out of area was not as unusual as we thought (prior to the school closures so not sure what it’s like now). We heard from others who had changed schools and then we saw for ourselves the significant differences between schools, and departmental policy has little to do with it. In case you’re wondering I AM talking about the “choices and consequences” era. It’s amazing what some schools could DO while others just presented an “innovative” and “progressive” facade while pointing the finger somewhere else for any problems.

Glad to see the Facebook page is gone. I know that sort of rubbish will never completely disappear but society needs to care enough to keep sending the message that it’s unacceptable.

matt31221 said :

Captain RAAF said :

My kids go to this school.

I also have special powers.

If I see my kids named on this group there will be consequences, consequences that the creator of this group can only picture in their wildest imaginings.

If the creator of this group reads this, think long and hard about what you post to that group because it may well bite you on the arse.

I have no problem with the consequences for me, if I have to, to protect my kids I will do what it takes.

You have been warned!

If I was you, i’d play it safe and pull the group down before someone gets hurt.

You rock Cpt. Raaf.

But I wouldn’t go threatening children brother. You will be the one getting hurt by the police/authorities if you actually do anything to harm a child – the police (and Australian society) do not tolerate this kind of behavior. Sure I have read the page and it is disgusting, it may even end up in a kid committing suicide. But the page was presumably created by a minor and only the police and facebook can deal with it.

I wouldn’t threaten the kids, however the kid down the street who beat up my son a few time learnt all his tricks from his deadbeat crackhead daddy.

After the school failed to take action, his deadbeat crackhead daddy got a visit from me telling him to sort his kid out, he told me to p!ss off, I told him if it happens again I would sort it out.

Next day the little turd comes to school and started to punch my son in the stomach. Told my son that his dad told him to ‘give him a few so his dad will learn not to speak out’. That afternoon, deadbeat crackhead daddy discovered what it is like to be punched in the stomach and face by someone bigger than you. Bullying stopped.

They were kicked out about 3 weeks ago by their real estate because of complaints by their neighbours.

The only way I have ever seen bullying dealt with effectively is to deal wioth the parents. If they are nice adn not aware they will try and stop it. If they are numbskulls, they will not and may egg it on. The second lot can be dealt with easily enough if you are a 6’4″, 110kg ex-soldier.

Why is the school being blamed here? What about the parents? Shouldn’t they also be responsible for their children’s behaviour? Teachers are not police but they seem to be an easy target.

Captain RAAF – if you’re going to break some knees over this one, I’d be targetting the parents – so they’re fully aware of what their little darlings have been up to on-line.

A question about this kind of page.

The post I read before it was taken down contained some rather graphic descriptions of sexual activity involving persons under the age of 18. I hope these children are having child pr0n laws explained to them.

Page gone
Canberra Goss is next in the firing line.

far_northact said :

One of the problems with facebook/internet bullying is that there is no break for the kids. They get bullied at school, then come home and cop it there as well.

(yeah yeah, parents could remove the internet access etc to minimise it, but if you aren’t a cotton wool parent, the most you can do is try to talk with them about it and hope it stops).

You are spot on with kids ‘not getting a break’ – its not just a break from bullying they need – they need a break from their friends at the end of the day. They are currently saturated in their own social little world and it has a detrimental effect on their well being, IMHO. It was recently reported that 80% of teenage girls sleep with their mobile phone. The number of girls who in their teenage years, end up suffering depression, and will engage in self harm, or attempt suicide is quite high.
When I was at school, I had local neighbourhood friends that I would muck around with – but that pretty much ended for the day when I would get called in for dinner.

creative_canberran said :

The problems with Lanyon began many, many years ago…..

and on and on goes creative_canberran’s rant…

My teenagers went to Lanyon High including during Michael Hall’s tenure and also during the current Principal’s tenure. They also went out of area to Erindale College by their choice due to the innovative approach to teaching and generally high standards that exist there, in part due to Michael’s progressive approach to teaching. They have excelled in these environments and have been well prepared for the self-discipline and study skills required for university.

creative_canberran seems to be doing the classic beat up of “problems” and avoiding providing any praise at all for anything positive that might have been, and is, being achieved at Lanyon. Like any public school that welcomes (or rather is required to take) all and sundry, (including those moved on from the private schools that couldn’t be bothered taking some responsibility for their students, or who ‘god’ forbid may lower the school’s academic results), Lanyon has no doubt had its share of difficult students. From our observation these students have been dealt with as best they can under ACT Education policies. Any failing in discipline is I think the sole responsibility of ACT Education which limits the power of schools to deal effectively with problem students. The softly softly approach still unfortunately seems to prevail in ACT Education policy areas which subscribe to the concepts of “choices” and “consequences”, rather than calling out bad behaviour for what is it…and punishing the students and removing them if necessary.

But back to creative_canberran….I would be curious to know if creative_canberran had children at Lanyon, and if so was creative_canberran actively involved in the school or were they one of these “hands off” parents that just relied on the rumour mill for their informative opinions?

And regarding the reference to a “brawl with over 200 students, from Lanyon and Mackillop broke out at the Lanyon shops”. I assume creative_canberran is referring to Erindale shops and the fracas that broke out a few years ago between some Mackillop and Erindale College students. Perhaps some geography and statistics lessons are in order.

And as to the fences…has creative_canberran not seen the fences appearing at every school in the ACT? Drawing a link to Lanyon High having the fences to “channel students to certain points to exit” is rather disingenuous.

And finally, “Achievement was a real problem, with special remedial maths classes introduced because test results were so poor in years 9 and 10”. Did creative_canberran read that sentence back to themself before pressing the submit button? I assume creative_canberran doesn’t consider introducing measures to improve the outcomes of students as being a positive thing?

We were fortunate to be able to choose between public and private schooling and have not had one day of regret for our choice. Our children have grown up observing the full range of society and behaviours, and are the wiser and stronger of mind for it. Along the way they have made some great friendships and have benefited from receiving a quality education from (in the majority of instances) excellent and dedicated teachers.

We know many of the kids who attended Lanyon and the vast majority were and are just normal (but talented!) kids doing normal kid things. A few bad eggs in amongst them shouldn’t provide an opportunity for uninformed individuals to take cheap shots at them, their school, and their teachers.

i agree with you, im always on facebook and these groups always pop up in my feed, i’ve seen at least ten in the past few months most of them targeting the same five six people, sadly girls mostly.

LSWCHP said :

This sort of thing is why, to my astonishment, I’ve ended up sending my kids to private school. It’s not perfect, but it has discipline and academic standards. The best thing is that it’s an exclusive school, in the sense that troublemakers are given a fair chance, and if they continue to screw up they are excluded. It seems to work. At least my kids haven’t had to bear the bullying and other crap I went through when I was at school

As I have a child at Lanyon, I trawled through the pages “friends” list to see if they or any of their friends were listed. Seems it wasn’t just confined to Lanyon, with an equal (to my eye) number of students from MacKillop, and a fair representation from Calwell, Chisholm, Trinity, St Clares, St Eddies, and Marist.

Classified said :

Pooks said :

I just rang Lanyon High and made a complaint with the principle.

If you are bothered by this Facebook page, ring 6205 7676
or email them in Lanh@lanyonhs.act.edu.au

Good work. My kids don’t go to this school, but I’d encourage parents to contact the school to let them know their concerns. As the OP says, it will never stop if people don’t make a stand. Making a phone or writing an email is 5 minutes out of your day.

I’m interested to know why most people automatically decide this is the school’s responsibility to deal with. One would assume that the facebook comments are being made at home. The school’s association with the page seems to be nothing more than the fact that kids mentioned go to the school. Does it become the school’s responsibility to deal with kids smoking at home? Or the school’s responsibility to deal with a kid shoplifting on weekends?
I’m not suggesting that the school do nothing, but there seems to be some subtext here that the school is partly to blame?

Good news it looks like the page has finally been pulled down!

lobster said :

Harassing the school isn’t going to make the problem any better.
They have already been told about it and they would have reported it themselves.
They aren’t posting the content.
They aren’t hosting the content.
They aren’t condoning the content.

Complain to facebook to get it taken down.

“The school was advised of the page as it involved students from the school. They did deal with one of the offenders and called the parent to the school. I do not believe anyone is harrassing the school, however the more calls they receive then maybe they could talk to all students in the school assembly or send notices home to parents advising them to be aware of what is happening. They send notices home when there is a break out of head lice so why not for situations such as bullying?”

I-filed said :

Facebook does not seem to give the option of reporting a page that is a public nuisance – only if the page is harrassing the complainant. Not good enough.

#
Additionally, you may report this profile as the following:

*
This is my profile, but I no longer have access to it
*
This person is annoying me
*
This profile is pretending to be someone or is fake
*
Type the name of the celebrity below to help us prevent abuse
*
Inappropriate profile photo
*
This person is bullying or harassing me

I reported the page using the option “This profile is pretending to be someone or is fake” it then gave me the option for free text. In the free text I advised that the content was inciting bullying and harrassment and that the content was inappropriate.
I am not sure how long it will take for Facebook to take action and pull the page down though. Hopefully not too long!

lobster said :

Harassing the school isn’t going to make the problem any better.
They have already been told about it and they would have reported it themselves.
They aren’t posting the content.
They aren’t hosting the content.
They aren’t condoning the content.

The school was advised of the page as it involved students from the school. They did deal with one of the offenders and called the parent to the school. I do not believe anyone is harrassing the school, however the more calls they receive then maybe they could talk to all students in the school assembly or send notices home to parents advising them to be aware of what is happening. They send notices home when there is a break out of head lice so why not for situations such as bullying?

Complain to facebook to get it taken down.

I-filed said :

Facebook does not seem to give the option of reporting a page that is a public nuisance – only if the page is harrassing the complainant. Not good enough.

#
Additionally, you may report this profile as the following:

*
This is my profile, but I no longer have access to it
*
This person is annoying me
*
This profile is pretending to be someone or is fake
*
Type the name of the celebrity below to help us prevent abuse
*
Inappropriate profile photo
*
This person is bullying or harassing me

I reported the page using the option “This profile is pretending to be someone or is fake” it then gave me the option for free text. In the free text I advised that the content was inciting bullying and harrassment and that the content was inappropriate.
I am not sure how long it will take for Facebook to take action and pull the page down though. Hopefully not too long!

Captain RAAF said :

My kids go to this school.

I also have special powers.

If I see my kids named on this group there will be consequences, consequences that the creator of this group can only picture in their wildest imaginings.

If the creator of this group reads this, think long and hard about what you post to that group because it may well bite you on the arse.

I have no problem with the consequences for me, if I have to, to protect my kids I will do what it takes.

You have been warned!

If I was you, i’d play it safe and pull the group down before someone gets hurt.

You rock Cpt. Raaf.

But I wouldn’t go threatening children brother. You will be the one getting hurt by the police/authorities if you actually do anything to harm a child – the police (and Australian society) do not tolerate this kind of behavior. Sure I have read the page and it is disgusting, it may even end up in a kid committing suicide. But the page was presumably created by a minor and only the police and facebook can deal with it.

creative_canberran said :

The problems with Lanyon began many, many years ago…..

This sort of thing is why, to my astonishment, I’ve ended up sending my kids to private school. It’s not perfect, but it has discipline and academic standards. The best thing is that it’s an exclusive school, in the sense that troublemakers are given a fair chance, and if they continue to screw up they are excluded. It seems to work. At least my kids haven’t had to bear the bullying and other crap I went through when I was at school

Harassing the school isn’t going to make the problem any better.
They have already been told about it and they would have reported it themselves.
They aren’t posting the content.
They aren’t hosting the content.
They aren’t condoning the content.

Complain to facebook to get it taken down.

Facebook does not seem to give the option of reporting a page that is a public nuisance – only if the page is harrassing the complainant. Not good enough.

#
Additionally, you may report this profile as the following:

*
This is my profile, but I no longer have access to it
*
This person is annoying me
*
This profile is pretending to be someone or is fake
*
Type the name of the celebrity below to help us prevent abuse
*
Inappropriate profile photo
*
This person is bullying or harassing me

EvanJames said :

Awesome, Captain RAAF is going to use his cat-fighting equipment on them!

Or apply his special lariat powers and Texas Skip them into submission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUMQkeuS_7o&feature=related

Awesome, Captain RAAF is going to use his cat-fighting equipment on them!

Captain RAAF3:40 pm 10 Nov 11

My kids go to this school.

I also have special powers.

If I see my kids named on this group there will be consequences, consequences that the creator of this group can only picture in their wildest imaginings.

If the creator of this group reads this, think long and hard about what you post to that group because it may well bite you on the arse.

I have no problem with the consequences for me, if I have to, to protect my kids I will do what it takes.

You have been warned!

If I was you, i’d play it safe and pull the group down before someone gets hurt.

fragge said :

Ha, trolled. You know if there’s one thing I remember about the psyche of being a teenager, its that the only thing worse than the bullying is intervention by a parent. Can you get any more piss weak? I guess you’ll have to learn the hard way when your kids develop “bitch-itis” in their 20s. Maybe you should call your locally elected representative and make a complaint to the media! :O:O:O

Trolled! WTF
I do not see it as intervening more creating awareness of what is happening out there. As a parent I will do everything in my power to try and stop this sort of behaviour. I think as a teenager you would get over your parents intervening a lot quicker than being constantly bullied and being slandered.
Or do we as parents and members of the community turn a blind eye to this sort of behaviour and when a child becomes depressed and withdrawn and possibly worse self harm or commit suicide; we just say “well we didn’t want to learn the hard way and have kids develop bitch-itis in their 20’s”?

If kids at the age of 13,14 or 15 etc think they can get away with this sort of behaviour now what morals are they going to take into adulthood?

These kids are our next generation.

So if I am “piss weak” for creating awareness of what is happening in our community then it is a title I am happy to accept.

creative_canberran1:31 pm 10 Nov 11

The problems with Lanyon began many, many years ago. When it first opened at least, it was a bit like the newer schools up north, designed as a leading example. Had very advanced computing, innovative design and academic programs not seen in other schools including a flattened Year 7-8 structure. The problem is the investment wasn’t followed up, in fact government cut backs meant parts of the school slated to be built were halted mid construction and covered up. Systems declined, programs were abandoned and resources stretched, all of which combined with an inept principal.

Perhaps though the biggest problem was the principal for many years, Michael Hall. A media savvy, rank climber who drove a Black Audi and whose space was reportedly empty more often than not. Mid way through his time at the school, one of the two deputy principal positions was abolished while the school population grew. Executive level teachers who were frequently swapped out in line with ACT Government policy had to pick up the slack, but the turn over made things difficult. Lack of communication, abandoned plans and no corporate knowledge for lack of a better phrase.

Hall was very focused on media management, building up wins for the school including the Beacon Initiative while also trying to hose down the fires that threatened to get into the media. When a brawl with over 200 students, from Lanyon and Mackillop broke out at the Lanyon shops, he spent much of the following day (in his own words) convincing media to play the incident down. The story that did run was brief and focused more on the police presence than naming the schools, so he succeeded I guess.

By the end of his time there, Lanyon was definitely a worse place than ever before. There was open conflict between staff over aspects of the place. Violence was a problem in classrooms as well as outside and truancy was chronic, to the point of staff being stationed around the perimeter to catch people during the day. The recent addition of fences is as much to channel students to certain points to exit as it is to keep people from vandalising the place after hours. Staff had been attacked by students. Achievement was a real problem, with special remedial maths classes introduced because test results were so poor in years 9 and 10. The culture was one of violence and anti-achievement. Despite this, Hall was promoted and still holds the Principal’s position at Erindale College.

Good on the OP for doing something. Imagine reading that stuff about yourself on the internet, for the whole world to see, ye gods. And yes, it’s the parents’ responsibility to control what their kids do, on the internet too. The school can only do so much. Get those terminals out of bedrooms and into loungerooms, parents. And if they’re doing it via hand-held devices, and abusing trust, withdraw the hand-held devices.

A few defamation cases against these nasty little creatures will make parents sit up and take notice. Expensive things, defamation cases.

Woody Mann-Caruso12:14 pm 10 Nov 11

Big surprise on the ‘friends’ names: Braiden, Kourtinee Mariee, Jordy, Savannah, Anjannette, Ashlinn, Caaitlin, Caprice, Ebony…you can’t make this s*** up.

fragge said :

Ha, trolled. You know if there’s one thing I remember about the psyche of being a teenager, its that the only thing worse than the bullying is intervention by a parent. Can you get any more piss weak? I guess you’ll have to learn the hard way when your kids develop “bitch-itis” in their 20s. Maybe you should call your locally elected representative and make a complaint to the media! :O:O:O

I bet you watch Today Tonight, right? Enough said.

Ha, trolled. You know if there’s one thing I remember about the psyche of being a teenager, its that the only thing worse than the bullying is intervention by a parent. Can you get any more piss weak? I guess you’ll have to learn the hard way when your kids develop “bitch-itis” in their 20s. Maybe you should call your locally elected representative and make a complaint to the media! :O:O:O

HenryBG said :

Pooks said :

I just rang Lanyon High and made a complaint with the principle.

If you are bothered by this Facebook page, ring 6205 7676
or email them in Lanh@lanyonhs.act.edu.au

Right – because schoolteachers on $60,000/year should be made responsible for an internet site run by people who are on $100,000,000/year.

You’re right, we should allow kids to bully at will.

Pooks said :

I just rang Lanyon High and made a complaint with the principle.

If you are bothered by this Facebook page, ring 6205 7676
or email them in Lanh@lanyonhs.act.edu.au

Right – because schoolteachers on $60,000/year should be made responsible for an internet site run by people who are on $100,000,000/year.

Diggety said :

“Bullying will never stop if we do not do anything about it.”

No, it will never stop, ever.

I don’t have children, but if I did, I would do everything in my power to stop some little bully bastard from ruining their lives.

I was never bullied in school but I certainly stood up for kids who were.

I have been bullied in the workplace and you know what? I made a formal complaint to the government and now my former boss is currently getting owned by the court.

As humans, we have the power to stop malicious behaviour. Don’t cower behind bullies.Stand up, look them in the eye and tell them to F*k OFF.

far_northact10:29 am 10 Nov 11

One of the problems with facebook/internet bullying is that there is no break for the kids. They get bullied at school, then come home and cop it there as well.

(yeah yeah, parents could remove the internet access etc to minimise it, but if you aren’t a cotton wool parent, the most you can do is try to talk with them about it and hope it stops).

Diggety said :

“Bullying will never stop if we do not do anything about it.”

No, it will never stop, ever.

I agree. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and keep it to a minimum. I’m glad that when I was in highschool the bullies were too stupid to follow me into cyberspace. Not that they are any smarter or more witty now (if that FB page is anything to go by), but the interwebs are a lot easier to access.

“Bullying will never stop if we do not do anything about it.”

No, it will never stop, ever.

Pooks said :

I just rang Lanyon High and made a complaint with the principle.

If you are bothered by this Facebook page, ring 6205 7676
or email them in Lanh@lanyonhs.act.edu.au

Good work. My kids don’t go to this school, but I’d encourage parents to contact the school to let them know their concerns. As the OP says, it will never stop if people don’t make a stand. Making a phone or writing an email is 5 minutes out of your day.

Looks to me like “Tuggers Goss” is a girl, based on some of the comments made. Looks like the kind of crap you see written on toilet walls. Thank god I lived my teenage years in the 80s when the worst thing anyone could “post” was a letter.
Girls seem to be far more at risk (both as victims and perpetrators) with this kind of bullying. I fear for my daughter – if it’s like this now imagine how bad it will be in 2025 when she’s 15….

I just rang Lanyon High and made a complaint with the principle.

If you are bothered by this Facebook page, ring 6205 7676
or email them in Lanh@lanyonhs.act.edu.au

Hehehe.. Troll face

I had a look at the page. It’s pretty disgusting. There were some nasty things being said. I did notice that lot of the kids were defending each other against the anonymous bully.

There was a hate filled status directed at a “Sophie”, and a guy replied “oii even tho me and sophie dont get along anymore.. shes a nice girl… leave her alone”

It’s a gross page and most of the kids replying seem to realise that. I reported the page.I would advise you to print out the page and hand it into the principle of Lanyon. You have the names of several of the bullies, connected to their highly offensive comments. What more evidence could you ask for?

I know bullying culture is rife and you may get no justice, but it’s worth a try.

Good luck.

Secret Squirrel9:39 am 10 Nov 11

Hard proof the Facebook is the root of all evil. It’s the work of the Devil!

Reported to fb and the school, although I’m sure I’m not the first. Christ I don’t envy having kids in high school these days.

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