Queensland high school suspends 22 students over schoolyard 'pornography ring'

There have been 22 students suspended from a Gold Coast school after naked images reportedly circulated around a schoolyard 'pornography ring'.

Year 9 girls and boys from Palm Beach Currumbin High School (PBC) sent inappropriate images of fellow students to each other were told to stay at home for three days, The Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

The incident is believed to have been just within the school.

Principal Stephen Loggie told the newspaper the school will work with parents and make sure students don't make the same mistake again.

“Young people are confronted by unprecedented pressures in relation to their online presence,” he said.

“Upon their return, all students will redo the cyber safety course which will include examining case studies highlighting the dangers of this type of activity.”

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A spokesperson for the the Department of Education and Training confirmed to Yahoo7 that 22 students were suspended for sharing inappropriate images.

"Unsafe online behaviour and inappropriate use of technology is a community-wide issue," the statement read.

"Schools, along with parents, have a role to play in supporting students to make safe and appropriate choices online.

"The school is working with students to ensure their behaviour is in line with school behaviour policy."

An anonymous student’s father told the newspaper his son received images, but never forwarded them on and is outraged his son was suspended for it.

“It’s mortifying to think this is going on and innocent kids are getting caught in the crossfire," he said.

“This is going on right under our noses and there’s probably a lot more to it than we know about."

Yahoo7 has contacted the school and are awaiting a statement.

The scandal comes one week after over 70 Australian schools were targets of an adult website pornography ring.

The website showed a variety of photos, some include sickening close-ups of young victims’ genitalia.

In other cases, sickening videos showed young women performing sexual acts.

It is believed the website, in the format of a message chat forum, is frequented by Australians but hosted outside of the country.

News break – August 23