EXCLUSIVE
A furious mother has slammed her daughter’s high school teachers after the 12-year-old was subjected to vile online harassment on laptops while in class.
Sarah* discovered disturbing rape threats sent to her daughter just weeks into her first term at Bundoora Secondary College in Melbourne‘s northern suburbs.
But the horrified mum claims she’s been told the instigator will never be punished.
The Year Seven student was targeted by the school bullies using the streaming gamer chat forum, Discord, to unleash a torrent of sexual slurs and threats.
It echoes the hit Netflix drama Adolescence where a young 13-year-old is caught up in a murder investigation after he was mercilessly bullied online.
Now the girl’s mother has sent an urgent warning to other parents that the gripping four-part thriller is not an extreme case – and uncomfortably close to everyday life.
‘I could absolutely relate to it because bullying and sexual harassment is out of control,’ Sarah, not her real name to protect her daughter, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It’s worse than parents could ever imagine with their kids accessing horrific abuse and rape sites.’
Netflix show Adolescence shines a light on the corrosive impact of social media and misogynist influencers on some teenage boys
Melbourne mother Sarah was shocked by the vile messages her daughter received during school time
The British series shows the aftermath of the stabbing of a teenage girl, with a 13-year-old boy from her school arrested for her murder.
Jamie, the young suspect, is played by Owen Cooper, with Stephen Graham as his dad.
The story shines a light on the corrosive impact of social media and misogynist influencers on some teenage boys.
It was the most-watched show on the platform around the world within days of its release, with many hailing it one of the best dramas of all time.
‘I wish people realised that it was not an extreme case or just a problem that’s happening in the UK, it’s right here in Australia too,’ Sarah said.
‘Kids egg each other on, say things and take things the wrong way. Parents don’t know what their kids are accessing in their bedrooms alone.
‘They are using VPNs [apps which disguise their connection to beat blocks like firewalls] at school to bypass security and download Discord.’
Discord is a popular platform for communication, especially for gamers, but presents potential danger for users as it is largely unmonitored with few controls over content.
Sarah told Daily Mail Australia her youngest daughter had come home shaken and upset in just her second week of her first term in high school.
The 12-year-old was just weeks into her first term at Bundoora Secondary College in Melbourne
Sarah says TV show Adolescence (scene pictured) brought tears to her eyes and has opened up important conversations
She revealed to her stunned mum that a boy in her year had said something so awful she was too embarrassed to repeat it to her.
Sarah reported it to the principal and took her to the school social worker who was told one of her classmates had been playing with scissors.
‘He said he was going to cut d***s off and cut her hair off,’ Sarah explained.
‘Then he started talking about a charger and said he was a special cable that was going to go in and out of her.’
Sarah said she assumed action would be taken after reporting the incident to the school and managed to convince her daughter to return to class as normal.
But just weeks later she says she was subjected to even worse online abuse by another male student using his school-issued laptop.
‘She said, “Mum, someone sent really bad messages to me on Discord.” This was on a school laptop not on their phones,’ Sarah said.
‘They use the VPNs to get past the security and access chat rooms and download games, and have group chats and direct message each other.
‘In the messages, he says he is a sex worker and if she is “…not careful you will be raped by me”.
‘They had a photo of alleged sex offender P. Diddy in [the chatroom] and they were talking about lube and oil and how they would “test” them.
‘They also talked about balls*** licking’ and eating d***. All of it was highly sexualised.’
The vile messages are pictured above
Sarah again went straight to the school but to her dismay, she says no further action was taken.
‘The school’s argument was they couldn’t see who is who in the chat but they were using each other’s names,’ said Sarah.
‘My daughter could have told them who said it and there were other kids in the group who could also identify him.
‘I had enough evidence for them to walk into that class to look at the laptops.
‘They should have suspended the student while they investigated him. It could have been dealt with on the first day.
‘There was nothing more important that day than a student being threatened with rape.’
Despite Sarah’s concerns being raised with the school, she says the boys remained in class.
‘I pulled her out of school and asked what constitutes a suspension or expulsion and they asked if “…she was happy to stay in the class or does she want to be moved?”
‘Why does she need to be moved? Why does she have to answer the questions of why she left and went to a new class?
‘She is sat there, in class with them, wondering if these kids are going to rape her?’
Sarah again went straight to the school (pictured) but to her dismay, she says no further action was taken
Sarah’s daughter remains at home, still emotional over the fear and embarrassment her tormenters subjected her to.
Her mother fears she won’t set foot back in the school she had been excited to join.
She said the fictional drama on Adolescence had brought tears to her eyes and said she was glad it has kickstarted important conversations
But she stressed people need to know the situation is even worse than they could imagine or was being played out onscreen.
‘All students need to be completing a course around consent and need a police interview before they go back in,’ she said.
‘We also need age verification online. This isn’t just happening at my daughter’s school – it’s happening across Victoria, across Australia.
‘The patterns are the same, increasingly sexualised behaviour, inadequate responses, and children left to deal with the fallout.
‘At what point do we recognise this as the crisis it truly is?’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Victorian Department of Education for comment who said they were investigating but did not offer a response.
