Bialik dismisses staff member after incident
Bialik says child-safety processes were activated immediately after adult imagery appeared on a laptop.
Bialik College principal Jeremy Stowe-Lindner has asked that a former staff member and their family “be afforded dignity and privacy” after the employee was sacked due to explicit adult material on their laptop being accidentally seen by students.
The incident occurred during the Year 6 to 7 Transition Day on December 2.
Stowe-Lindner told the AJN, “The College can confirm that an isolated incident occurred this week in which a staff member’s laptop briefly displayed inappropriate adult imagery to a small number of students. The material was not of a child-related nature. The staff member self-reported immediately.
“The College acted within minutes to initiate its Child Safety and HR processes and promptly notified the statutory authorities. The staff member’s employment has been terminated following the College’s processes.
“A technical investigation has confirmed that protective systems functioned as designed and that there is no ongoing risk to students. We have issued an unreserved apology in our community communication and to individual families.”
In an email to Bialik parents on 4 December, Stowe-Lindner wrote, “On Tuesday, at the end of a video presentation during the Year 6 to 7 Transition Day, a staff member’s laptop inadvertently displayed thumbnail images of another adult. At least one of these images does not pass any test of reasonableness to be shown to children, nor should the images have been on a school device or present in the workplace.
“We acknowledge this deeply unfortunate and completely inappropriate situation that has exposed children to at least one image that they should not see. The staff member is no longer employed at Bialik College. The College apologises unreservedly to the small number of students who saw this and to their parents,” he wrote.
Discussing the former employee, Stowe- Lindner requested, “We ask for the former staff member and their family to be afforded dignity and privacy as they confront the consequences of this conduct in this deeply unfortunate, personally embarrassing and completely inappropriate situation.”
The principal recommended that if children seek advice about this situation to focus on, “the lessons learnt about avoiding recording images or situations that may be embarrassing to self or others; sharing concerns with trusted adults immediately, as children have done in this case; and avoiding rumours and speculation about what might have happened, and to focus on the facts”.
The email offered support including from the school’s Psychology and Counselling services.