Perth students suspended for tormenting relief teacher, posting video online

The parents of students who tormented a relief teacher at a high school in Perth’s southern suburbs will meet with the principal on Monday, after a video of their actions was shared online.

The video, posted to TikTok and since deleted, showed students at Baldivis Secondary College running rampant in the classroom, walking on desks, touching the teacher’s hair, and blowing vape smoke in her face.

The teacher was heard repeatedly asking the students to stop.

Five students were suspended over the incident and support is being provided for the teacher involved.

Education Minister Sabine Winton has slammed the vision, saying teachers deserved respect in the classroom and to feel safe.

Opposition Education Minister Liam Staltari said the behaviour in the footage was “shocking and beyond unacceptable”.

“Our teachers deserve to be respected and safe at school – that’s non-negotiable,” he said.

“Sadly, we know that extreme bad behaviour, teacher burnout and resignations have soared for years.

“The government needs to step up and make clear that teachers and principals can enforce the rules with zero tolerance for conduct like this.”

Staltari said teacher resignations had soared by 120 per cent in the last six years.

He said that more broadly, the fact footage like this could be shot and shared on apps like TikTok made clear that more needs to be done to close gaps in the social media ban.

“Teachers have had enough talk – they deserve action,” he said.

The State School Teachers Union of WA said the incident was an example of the abuse relief teachers dealt with daily and that the disrespectful behaviour was part of the reason many teachers were making the decision to leave the profession.

The principal, Alison Parlo, told the Baldivis Times that the school had reported the footage to the Education Department and was also working to identify the student who filmed and posted it.

“What is shown is deeply troubling and completely unacceptable,” she said.

“This behaviour falls short of the standards we expect of our students and is not something we will tolerate under any circumstances.

“Nobody should be treated in this manner.”

Parlo said the behaviour did not represent the school, and that the “vast majority of our students are a credit to this school, their families and to our community, and it is important that this incident is not seen as a reflection of them”.

Fisheries Minister Don Punch was questioned over the incident at a press conference on Monday morning and described the incident as “bullying”.

“Those five young people who were involved in that need to take responsibility for it,” he said.

“Bullying is not acceptable in our schools.

“The school itself is extending support to the relief teacher who was impacted by it and the school community itself. It’s a shocking example of bullying, and it’s just not acceptable.”

Punch said schools were giving a lot of support to students around behavioral management “but at the end of the day, parents and caregivers need to talk to their children about the impact of bullying on others.”

“I was bullied at school. I know what it’s like, and I know how it impacts young people’s lives so it’s got to stop,” he said.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.