Parents of Busselton Senior High School students could sue over TikTok suicide video, says expert Susan McLean

Parents of kids who watched a video of a violent suicide during class time should consider suing their school for psychological injury, according to cyber-safety expert Susan McLean. As revealed in The West Australian yesterday, a teacher from Busselton Senior High School was stood down after she allegedly let a small group of Year 12s view footage on a student’s mobile phone of an American man taking his own life. The Education Department is investigating the incident which took place last Wednesday, the day after all schools were warned about the graphic vision circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok. Some Busselton students were so traumatised they required psychological support. Ms McLean, a former police officer who regularly speaks to school students and staff about online safety, said permitting students to watch a recording of someone as they took their own life was clearly a breach of a teacher’s duty of care. “It was a foreseeable harm,” she said. “The risk of psychological harm would be 99.9 per cent — no-one could watch that and be unmoved.” “If that was my child who was exposed to that at school, when they were meant to be looked after and protected, I would be seeking legal advice about my options.” Ms McLean said exposure to images or descriptions of suicide had been linked to increased suicidal thoughts or attempts. “The advice was to not discuss it at school,” she said. “That was the clear advice from the office of the eSafety Commissioner.” “This was a very poor decision by a teacher who should have known better and potentially has led to the harm of some of the students she was legally required to keep safe from harm.” State School Teachers Union president Pat Byrne said she expected the investigation into the Busselton teacher’s conduct to be swift. She said while some might argue the video was widely available on the internet, teachers had a duty of care to students and their mental wellbeing.