The mother of a Scots College student has described how her son was left bruised after being forced to walk through a human tunnel while being called “disgusting” names as part of what she said was a biannual school tradition held off-campus over the weekend.
Police are investigating the incident, which the mother described as a school tradition called “Bob 2025” for boys in years 10 to 12, which was held on Saturday afternoon off school grounds near Woollahra Golf Course in Rose Bay.
Scots College (left) and an edited part of the video in which a student was humiliated after being forced to walk through a “human tunnel”. Credit: 2GB
Scots College principal Dr Ian Lambert on Monday afternoon said while it was not a school-sanctioned event, there would be consequences, which could include expulsion for students involved in the alleged incident.
“He was lured there and pressured into going. He was told that it was an expectation that he’d be there, and all of the boys needed to be there to show support,” the mother, Trish, told Ben Fordham’s 2GB breakfast program.
“When he got there, he was set upon by this group. They handed him a flag and they ridiculed him. Poured beer over his hair, pulled his shirt, the beer was burning his eyes, all his shoulders, and bruises all over him, and just absolutely humiliated him, laughing and taunting him, calling him disgusting names that I don’t think he will ever forget.”
She said her son was chased from the park by a number of boys before a woman in Rose Bay helped him call his parents and notify the police about the incident.
“The lady, who is a guardian angel, got him and took him to her house and waited there ’til police arrived. She encouraged him to call the police and to stay on the phone to me, to talk to me until, until I got there, and the police were there.”
The mother said she contacted staff at the school who were providing assistance but was yet to speak to the headmaster.
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