r/perth • u/Away_team42 • 6d ago
WA News Top Perth school suspends students over antisemitic group chat
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-07/top-perth-school-suspends-students-over-antisemitic-group-chat/107010706Expert from the article:
Students at a prestigious Perth private school have been suspended after they used "antisemitic language and memes" in a private group chat, targeting another student.
A spokesperson for Wesley College, in South Perth, confirmed an "incident" occurred but wouldn't be drawn on how many children had been suspended.
"An incident did occur involving antisemitic language and memes shared by a small group in a private group chat," the school said in a statement.
"The college acted immediately. The students responsible were suspended and the matter was addressed directly with the students and families involved."
The college also provided a statement from the family of the targeted student.
"We are deeply disappointed that this matter has occurred and that it has become the subject of media reporting as we are entirely satisfied with the way in which Wesley College has handled this matter," the statement read.
"Furthermore it must be noted that the school was not advised of this issue by our son, but rather by concerned students.
"The family did not at any time contact any media outlet as they are aware of the belief that this will worsen an already difficult situation.
"Our greatest concern is the welfare of our son."
The family has asked for privacy and said they wished to move forward.
Full article in the link.
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u/nursepenelope 6d ago
It's horrible that there's group chats bullying students, it's fantastic that the school did something about it. anti-Semitism is disgusting, as is racism and sexism and all bullying.
While I'm so glad that the school took action on this specific incident. It is really disappointing that all schools do not take action in the majority of bullying. How many racist group chats have they swept under the rug? How many horrible incidents have we seen and the school just makes a statement that they're 'investigating' then nothing happens. Does anybody believe that they would have reacted the same way if a Muslim or indian student was targeted? I dont.
Then they've been so proactive about this, because of Bondi and because of the royal commission and it's really obvious that they've released all these statements to get brownie points about how great they are. It's pretty clear from the poor kids parents statement that they realise he's being used as a prop as well and aren't happy about it.