Scots principal takes swipe at parents after human tunnel incident

The principal of eastern suburbs private school Scots College has taken a swipe at parents who allowed their teenage children to gather “with large amounts of alcohol” after a boy was made to march through a human tunnel before being allegedly doused in beer and called humiliating names by his classmates.

The alleged incident occurred off school grounds on Saturday afternoon after numerous students gathered nearby Woollahra Golf Course in Rose Bay for the biannual Scots student tradition called BOB, or Boys on Beer.

Scots College principal said the behaviour would never be tolerated at the school and questioned why parents had allowed them to drink unsupervised.Credit: Alex Donnini 

Police are investigating the alleged assault and have so far spoken to two 16-year-old and two 17-year-old boys, who will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.

The boy’s mother on Monday had detailed how after being lured to the park, students had poured beer over her son’s hair and pulled his shirt. She said the boys humiliated, laughed and taunted him and called him “disgusting names that I don’t think he will ever forget”.

On Wednesday, the 17-year-old boy spoke about the alleged incident and the broader experience of being bullied.

“When I was invited to a Snapchat group and a school gathering over the weekend, I thought I was finally being included. One kid even told me I had to go or I’d be kicked out of a program that I was part of. But that inclusion was a trap,” the student said in a letter read out on 2GB’s Ben Fordham breakfast radio program.

“The most terrifying part was how I was lured there, thinking I was going to have some fun and finally, have some friends at school. The bullying I’ve experienced isn’t limited to the playground. I’ve received awful messages online that made me feel alone and attacked.”

A letter from the school’s principal, Dr Ian Lambert, which was sent to teachers and read by Fordham, took a swipe at parents for allowing their children to drink unsupervised.

“These boys were under the supervision of their parents, and I question why they were permitted to gather in such a way with large amounts of alcohol present and being consumed by boys under the age of 18. Behaviour of this nature is never tolerated at Scots.

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“The conduct that is visible in the video is completely unacceptable and stands in direct opposition to our values. I am disappointed and disgusted. The fact that this occurred off campus and outside school hours does not lessen its seriousness.”

Rose Bay residents contacted by this masthead said the secluded area adjacent to Woollahra Golf Course where the incident occurred had been used as an unsupervised underage drinking site for years by teenagers. They said students sang loud drinking chants including “Scots boys are on fire … chug, chug, chug”.

Police said the investigations into the incident are ongoing.

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