Vile tirade subject of probe
Wellington College has launched an investigation after an expletive-laden tirade involving racist, sexist and homophobic language was posted online ahead of a first XV rugby game against a rival school.
The post and account it came from appear to have been deleted but screen grabs have circulated. It was posted late last week, before the weekend rugby clash with Scots College.
It refers to masturbation, immigrants and drugs, and includes disparaging terms for Pacific Islanders, gay people and women.
Wellington College principal Glen Denham yesterday confirmed a ‘‘no stone unturned’’ investigation after what appears to be a student or someone linked to the school posted the diatribe. The school had leads on the culprit, who was not confirmed to be a student, Denham said.
‘‘F... your Saturday afternoon w..... everyone be down at the stinky [Scots College] at 2.15pm sharp ready for kickoff at 2.30, bring your mates and bring your box’’, one of the rare printable sections says.
It comes days after the annual rugby game between Christchurch Boys’ High School and Christ’s College in Christchurch was marred by racial abuse being yelled by a spectator. In May 2022, Wellington Girls’ College called in police after racist graffiti targeting Pasifika students was sprayed in a toilet block.
In 2017, students from Wellington College posted ‘‘f... women’’, while another said: ‘‘If you don’t take advantage of a drunk girl, you’re not a true Wc [Wellington College] boy.’’
Also in 2017, two teachers at St Patrick’s Silverstream in Upper Hutt quit after being sexually harassed by students. One of those teachers later detailed how students filmed up her skirt and posted the footage to a private group on Instagram.
Sparked by the two 2017 incidents, hundreds of demonstrators, mostly high school students, turned up to a protest at Parliament against a perceived rape culture in schools.
A student from a Wellington co-ed school, who asked for anonymity, believed the latest post was symptomatic of a boys-only school.
‘‘I definitely know that cyberbullying occurs in co-ed schools [and in all schools for that matter] but that kind of post in particular would most likely be coming from an all-boys school where there is often a lot of homophobia and sexism occurring.
‘‘Although it would be possible to come from a co-ed/all-girls school I definitely feel that it would be more unlikely and I guess much less ‘socially acceptable’.’’
Netsafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said bad behaviour online was ‘‘not going away’’.
Schools were getting better at educating pupils about online behaviour and, while this was commendable, it tended to make them more savvy about using fake accounts or virtual private networks (VPNs) to protect their identity.
The Harmful Digital Communications Act meant courts could order platforms to unmask anonymous accounts, he said.
School Sport New Zealand chief executive Mike Summerell said the recent post ‘‘is not acceptable in society, let alone school sport’’.
‘‘I agree with the comments made by Glen Denham that this is disgusting in every way and have full confidence that he and the staff of Wellington College will do what is necessary to determine who made the post and deal with it appropriately, including educating this person.’’