Actions of a few Figtree High students smear reputation of all

By Shannon Tonkin
Updated November 5 2012 - 11:05pm, first published September 24 2010 - 10:53am

Figtree High Year 12 students have furiously denied they ran riot during Monday's muck-up day and said only a few had got out of control."It got out of hand, but it was only a small number of students - the majority of the year was well behaved," one student told the Mercury yesterday."Yeah, there are some rascals in the school, but the majority are sensible, and now we're all getting blamed for this. We only found out about most of the bad stuff, like the sex toys bit, this morning."In yesterday's Mercury, a staff member claimed about 60 Year 12 students, some wearing clown masks and white overalls, rioted through the school for two hours.The staffer claimed some Year 12 students doused fellow classmates and younger students with flour, water, vinegar and stink bombs.At their worst, the source said the graduating students wrapped two Year 8 girls in plastic before sex toys were hurled in their face.A parent who contacted the Mercury yesterday said a Year 7 boy had also been restrained and hit with a sex toy, while another parent claimed his daughter and a group of her friends, all from a younger grade, had urine thrown over them by Year 12 students (see story above).Police are investigating the antics, along with a separate incident occurring on Thursday, when a teacher was hospitalised after a chemical bomb thrown by a student exploded in her face.Students who contacted the Mercury claimed a Year 10 student was responsible for throwing the bomb. Wollongong police said the teacher, aged in her 50s, was released from Wollongong Hospital at 11pm on Thursday with limited vision but was expected to make a full recovery.The Mercury's website was bombarded yesterday with comments both chastising and defending the Year 12 students.A number of students and parents were outraged, saying blame for the bad behaviour of a few students was being directed at the entire year.The student who spoke to the Mercury did not want to be identified, but said the year group had agreed before muck-up day only to bring water bombs and water pistols, however a small number of students had disregarded the rules."We felt so bad about what they'd done - 10 students cooked breakfast for the teachers this morning to say sorry," he said.Another Year 12 student who spoke to the Mercury said she believed students knew who was responsible but were too afraid to say."We've got a fair idea of who it was, but everyone is playing the blame game now," she said."The principal has asked whoever is responsible to come forward, but I don't think anyone will say anything because they're worried about the repercussions."The girl said the whole day "had been taken too far" by what she said was about 20 to 25 students."It's horrible everyone had to suffer and be brought down because of the ones that took it too far," she said.Other students who posted comments online agreed. "It's wrong that the whole year gets blamed for the action of a few people," one said.

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