ASHS Update – Social Media Incident

Kia ora whanau,

Last week, on Thursday, we became aware of a situation where social media accounts (Instagram and SnapChat) were created under a male name. Both social media accounts became very active very quickly, making inappropriate and offensive remarks about young women. A number of our students took screenshots and reported it to the Senior Leadership Team. The name seemed to be identified as a student at Albany Senior High School. Our Leadership team investigated all the screenshots sent and it became evident that the person identified on the account was not a student (or ex student) at Albany Senior High School. The names and photos shared on those accounts of young males are not students at ASHS.

This situation extends beyond Albany Senior High School across other North Shore schools. We have reported any accounts we are aware of. Netsafe and the Police are actively involved in this case and we encourage you to pass on any information that you have to Netsafe and the Police as it may further support their investigation. We would like to remind our young people to not engage with, comment on or share any of these social media accounts. If you have any further information or concerns you can contact Netsafe at:  https://report.netsafe.org.nz/hc/en-au/requests/new or make a report to the police at: https://www.police.govt.nz/105support

Further support

We care deeply about our young people and encourage them to speak up and speak out about any concerns. We understand these incidents can be very distressing, and we are doing our best to ensure our young people are being supported. If your young person speaks up about these issues please encourage them to continue talking to people that they trust and reaching out for further support. For any school related issues that arise please encourage them to contact any of our senior leadership and/or counselling team. You can also let them know that they can contact Youthline on free text 234 or call 0800 376 633 or 0800 What’s Up at any time. 

Upcoming ASHS Student Whanau Wellbeing Evening

On this note, next week we have a great opportunity for family and whanau to explore how they can further support their young person’s wellbeing both offline and online. See details below. We look forward to seeing you there.

You can register your interest for the event here: https://forms.gle/aS9EgxrHfBktXyYQA

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, students and ASHS family and whanau for all of the support you have shown over the past few days. 

Nga mihi

Claire

Claire Amos
Principal | Tumuaki
Albany Senior High School