School

By Paul Dunlop
FOOTAGE of a mock playground fight posted on the internet by school students has prompted a warning that the world wide web can be perilous.
A group of teenage boys at Beaconsfield’s St Francis Xavier College was sternly spoken to by school leaders recently after a short film they made as a joke was put onto an internet site.
College principal Paul Desmond said only a small number of students were involved in the incident, which was intended as a harmless prank.
But Mr Desmond emphasised that such behaviour was unacceptable.
Mr Desmond said swift action had been taken to send a strong message to the students and the wider school community.
“The students involved have been spoken to and now understand their error in judgement,” he said.
“The images portrayed were of a ‘make believe’ fight between groups of young males.
“These were unacceptable and certainly not in keeping with the nature of this school.
“Nor did they represent anything for which we stand.”
The internet is an increasingly popular medium for young people who use sites such as MySpace and Youtube to communicate with friends from all over the world.
Mr Desmond said parents should be mindful that, even though the internet was a wonderful tool for research and communication, it was also potentially dangerous.
“The internet is a fantastic thing, used properly, but it is also alarmingly simple for anybody in the wider public to open communication with an individual via these sites,” he said.
Mr Desmond encouraged all people with computers in their homes to be wary of how the internet was used.