Politics

Parents Of Sydney Private School Boys Defend Gross Muck Up Day Pranks With #ProudShoreMums

The hashtag was instantly derailed, of course.

by Jared Richards  28 September 2020
#ProudShoreMum trends on Twitter as users mock defence of elite school students' muck up day plans

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Parents of teenage boys who attend Shore, an elite Sydney private school, are reportedly defending their children from criticism after a vile muck up day challenge sheet went viral. Naturally, their hashtag of choice #ProudShoreMums has been overwhelmed with jokes.

Last week, a “Triwizard Shorenament” scavenger hunt circulated online, created by year 12 students at the $33,000 a year school in Sydney’s North Shore.

Points were awarded for a variety of acts, such spitting on homeless people, ‘sack whacking’ or ‘decking’ a complete random, shitting on a Sydney train, or having sex with a woman over 40-years-old or a “3/10 or under”.

It was first reported on by the Sydney Morning Herald, and featured a denouncement from the school and police, with many pointing out that the cops wouldn’t talk about ‘not spoiling the fun’ if this came from a Western Sydney school.

Now, the Herald has a follow-up, with reporter Andrew Taylor speaking to several Shore mums who think their boys are being unfairly targeted on social media and in public, with one parent saying several students were “verbally abused”  on the way to school last week.

According to Taylor, private Facebook groups such as ‘North Shore Mums’ are full of heated debates, as parents defend their children and Shore from accusations that the school breeds entitled and misogynistic men.

This includes the hashtag #ProudShoreMums, which, of course, has now found a new life on Twitter from those less-than-sympathetic to their defense.

After the hashtag trended on Australian Twitter on Sunday, the Herald has responded Monday with an editorial under an anonymous ‘Herald View’ byline titled: “The teenage brain is a work-in-progress. Remember that when blaming the Shore students“.

Given the incarceration rate of Indigenous youths for far more minor crimes than anything listed on that sheet, it’s telling that the paper feel the need to make a stance on lenience purely in relation to Shore boys.

It’s almost like the Herald unearthed an incendiary story, wrote a follow-up detailing the immense privileged bubble these children live in, and then, after generating further backlash, decided to create more to continue the clicks nearly a week after the story first broke.

Meanwhile, they’ve also published an op-ed from an ‘old boy’ alum who directly states that the school itself is teaching these students to use their privilege as a weapon.

“I feel a deep sadness for all those Shore students, on the verge of entering the adult world with all the wrong messages about what it takes to be a man,” writes Rob Sturrock.  “Many of them will carry unhealthy attitudes and values forward into universities, workplaces, relationships and family homes. They’ll harbour unconscious biases that may take decades to confront.”

Find a few more #ProudShoreMum’s below.