Abingdon schoolboy faces expulsion after allegedly sending antisemitic image to Jewish student
An fifteen-year-old Abingdon schoolboy is facing expulsion after allegedly sending an antisemitic image to a Jewish student from the same school.
The image, sent through the social media app Snapchat, was said to have depicted three people dressed as Nazis soldiers.
The teenager also allegedly created a video on Tik Tok, another social media app, whereby he was said to have joked about raping a woman from a different Tik Tok video.
The Headmaster of the prestigious Oxfordshire boarding school, Michael Windsor, said that the videos were “grossly racist and sexist”. He added: “These incidents do not just contravene our Behaviour, Rewards and Sanctions Policy but they go completely against the ethos and culture of the school based on courtesy, kindness and respect.”
The schoolboy has issued a response, stating: “I am deeply sorry and regretful of my stupid actions. I deeply regret my actions and I understand that people could get offended by them very easily but I had no intention of offending or hurting someone’s feelings. In the small amount of time I have had to think about my disgraceful actions, I can certainly confirm that not a single thing I said was intended with harm or to offend anyone. I understand now that it would and I regret posting those things, it was a lack of judgement before when posting, and I did not think about all the people that would see my profile. I am deeply sorry and I promise that this will not happen again.”
However, the boy’s parents defended their son, arguing that social media is not real life and therefore that the punishment should not be too severe, claiming that the videos were “just jokes”.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It seems that the schoolboy has grasped the gravity of his actions far better than his parents who seem to think that Nazism and rape are joking matters. Unfortunately, social media is exposing young minds to the most appalling material, and in addition to firm regulation of social media companies, it is vital that schools and parents are vigilant and set a firm example. We hope that the school will apply a suitably serious penalty, even as this boy’s parents irresponsibly dismiss his conduct as ‘jokes’.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms.
