Two students were expelled from Yarra Valley Grammar school for creating a list ranking female peers. Image source: Pixabay, Pexels.
Two boys have been expelled from an elite Melbourne private school for allegedly circulating an offensive list ranking their female peers’ attractiveness.
Yarra Valley Grammar school staff discovered screenshots of a spreadsheet uploaded to social media, assigning photos and names to female peers based on their appearance.
The girls were ranked from best to worst as “wifey”, “cuties”, “mid”, “object”, “get out”, and “unrapable”.
Principal Mark Merry described the post as “disgraceful” and concerning, particularly the final rank on the list, which referred to female students as “unrapable”.
“My first impulse and concern is about the wellbeing of the girls concerned. I want to make sure they feel assured and supported by the school,” he said.
The school was alerted of the post last Wednesday and the four boys involved were suspended by Friday pending further inquiries.
On Tuesday, the school expelled two of the boys by letter after parents expressed outrage.
“As a result of these investigations, yesterday I formed the view that the position of two students at Yarra has become untenable and as a consequence they will not be returning to the school,” said Principal Merry in the letter.
“Others, who have played a lesser role in this matter have been subject to further disciplinary action.”
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare expressed his gratitude in an interview with Nine News that the male students were suspended.
“It is disgusting and appalling, I’m glad that the students have been suspended,” he said.
“It demonstrates that there is still a lot more work to do, it’s a job not just for schools, but for parents and political leaders like me as well.”
The school have contacted Victoria police following the incident in case there has been any criminality involved.
“The language used could be an inferred threat. I don’t think it was, but we need to get further advice on that … I’m hoping it was an appalling lapse in judgment,” said Principal Merry.
Yarra Valley Grammar said it will review its programs on respectful relationships.
A meeting was held on Monday 6 May for the parents of the 40 girls mentioned in the list.
If you need to talk to someone regarding the topics raised in this article, you can contact:
Lifeline 24/7 Crisis Support: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Don’t Become That Man helpline on 1300 243 413
