Melbourne students’ ‘sexualised’ Instagram posts spark anger

A prestigious private school in Melbourne, Australia has shut down a student-run Instagram page which was accused of sexualising younger girls.

Police are investigating after the mother of one girl featured complained.

The account, by year 12 students at Brighton Grammar, used photos of girls as young as 11 and asked people to vote for their "slut of the year".

The school said the "disgraceful" account did not reflect its values and that two boys had been suspended.

"Disrespectful behaviour on any social media site is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated," headmaster Ross Featherston said in a statement.

The mother who complained to the school also published an open letter on Facebook at the weekend, quoted widely in Australian media, saying some images showed girls partially undressed or had captions referring to sex acts.

The woman, who has not been named to protect the children's identities, said her daughter "has not only been sexualised but violated within our small community".

"I will not rest until the consequence for the crime meets the severity of the crime itself — for my daughter and all other young unsuspecting girls."

Fairfax media quoted her as saying she blamed the boys' parents, not the school.

Victoria police confirmed to the media they were investigating "a report in relation to inappropriate content on an Instagram account".