Exam students tie up girl in 'prank'

FIVE LEAVING Cert students at a secondary school for girls in south Co Dublin were banned from attending their graduation ceremonies this week after an incident in which they tied up a fellow student, drove her to a boys’ school and left her alone in the grounds.

The latest victim in the recent spate of end-of-year school “pranks” by students is a fifth-year girl in fee-paying Mount Anville, Goatstown.

The incident occurred last week when five sixth-year students used cable cord to tie up the girl who was then blindfolded and driven to nearby Blackrock College.

In an unrelated incident, more than 60 Leaving Cert pupils at Blackrock College, Dublin, were suspended for a week after “boisterous behaviour” at end-of-year celebrations. There are suggestions the students were taking part in Duck Duck Goose, a traditional playground game.

The Mount Anville student was taunted and left crying in the grounds of Blackrock College for half an hour. It is understood a bottle of water was thrown over her.

A parent at Mount Anville said no other disciplinary action appeared to be in train.

The principal, Patricia Bourden, did not respond to calls from The Irish Times.

The abducted girl was eventually located by friends, set free and brought back to the school after a a text message by the perpetrators.

Her fifth-year classmates were said to be horrified by what had taken place. The girl is highly regarded by staff at the school.

The five students who are due to sit their Leaving Cert at the school early next month were banned from attending their graduation and prize-giving ceremonies as punishment.

The headmaster at Blackrock College has also refused to comment on any disciplinary incidents at his school.

The incidents at Mount Anville and Blackrock are the latest in a series of controversies about the behaviour of second-level students.

Last week a sixth-year boy at St Mary’s College, Rathmines, Dublin, was found tied to a tree in the grounds of Muckross Park school for girls in nearby Donnybrook.

At High School, Rathgar, in Dublin, three students were expelled after teachers uncovered an unofficial rave being held in the sixth-year common room. The school also cancelled the scheduled sixth-year graduation ceremony. Earlier this week, sixth-year parents at High School organised their own graduation ceremony for their children at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin.