From Term 3, 2025, Victorian principals will have greater authority to suspend or expel students for serious misbehaviour occurring outside school hours or online, particularly when it places staff or students at risk.
This shift comes in response to rising incidents of online bullying, assaults, and AI deepfake misuse, bringing Victoria into line with policies in NSW and SA.
While positioned as a protective measure, the change has raised concerns.
At Evolve Education, we work closely with schools and leadership teams to navigate these complex issues around online harm and are constantly advocating for the need for education over punitive measures. I’d also argue that while schools certainly need greater support in the area, the power to expel isn’t it.
So, what is ‘Digital Drama’?
In our context, Digital Drama refers to behaviour between students (and sometimes towards teachers) that occurs outside of school hours, often on platforms or apps that are not sanctioned by the school. These programs might include group chats on Snapchat, students posting things on Youtube video channels, or even chat within multiplayer online games like Roblox or Minecraft. These incidents tend to fester at home online and ‘blow up’ within the school gates.
Confusingly, there are often contradictions between the research and what we see in schools every day. It’s not uncommon to hear academics and experts suggest that children and young people see no distinction between the online and offline world, for them, it’s all one seamless space. And while that may be true in some cases, for example, the very real emotional impact of being targeted online, what we regularly observe is a clear divide between a child’s behaviour in person and their actions in the digital world.
"I couldn’t believe so many students were involved, half the year level knew this was going on. Full names and faces on their profiles too. Not just unkind but so incredibly unsafe."
The Disconnect between Online and Offline Behaviour
There appears to be a significant disconnect in how children behave online versus how they act in the classroom. They may feel emboldened by the anonymity of the internet. They may miss the warning signs that someone on the other side of the screen is becoming increasingly distressed. There can also be a diffusion of responsibility, a bystander effect, or simply a lack of empathy around the impact their actions may have on a target.
This extends from cyberbullying into Image Based Abuse, with 1 in 10 young people believing making a deepfake nude of someone isn’t harmful, because it isn’t ‘real’.
This makes sense in our own experiences as adults. How many of us chose to have that difficult meeting face to face rather than in email because we don't want things misinterpreted and it stops things getting ‘heated’?
"In the real-world people subconsciously monitor the behaviour of others around them and adapt their own behaviour accordingly... Online we do not have such feedback mechanisms." - Graham Jones, Psychologist
Schools often report seeing students who ‘would not say boo’ in real life becoming involved. Sometimes they are passive bystanders, and other times they are active instigators. With many students retaliating in response to online meanness, the roles between instigator and target can easily become blurred and difficult for a school to determine.
Offline Vulnerability Denotes Online Vulnerability
In addition to these students, we also see students who more commonly engage in targeting others, also playing a role in these online altercations.
Research shows that students who target others offline are just as likely to engage in targeting others online. Not surprisingly, a target’s offline vulnerability often translates to an online vulnerability. In this way, a suspension may provide the target of online harm and offline bullying with some respite, at least within the school gates, to reconnect with those they may have been excluded from.
"Nine in ten (92%) of those children who have treated someone negatively have been treated poorly themselves."
These two factors combined mean schools are dealing with a melting pot of behaviour often involving wide groups of students that significantly impacts not only student wellbeing but also teaching and learning. This is further compounded by the burden placed on teachers to untangle this “digital drama”, often during the precious few minutes of their lunch break, with little or no resolution.
Teachers often report that in cases where a resolution is found, it is not uncommon for some parents to deny their child’s involvement altogether. We often hear teachers' frustration with a real reluctance to ‘come to the party’ when it comes to parents holding their children accountable for their online actions.
Throughout this article, you’ll notice I use the terms instigator and target when referring to cyberbullying. We intentionally use these terms instead of “bully” and “victim” because the focus needs to be on behaviour, not identity. This distinction is especially important when we consider that many students will retaliate when cyberbullied. This cycle itself becomes a significant barrier to disclosure. Many students are reluctant to report cyberbullying out of fear that they’ll also get in trouble for their part in the conflict. For example, a target might finally respond by telling the instigator to “fu** off” and won’t report it for fear of being punished for swearing.
Why is this causing headaches for schools?
Many parents feel ill-equipped to help their child navigate online issues or friendship disputes. The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) reports that most parents believe their child's technical ability surpasses their own by the age of eight. In many cases, parents come to schools for help, because they haven’t received the education or empowerment to respond confidently to these kinds of issues.
"Our generation doesn’t have the experience… it’s difficult to police when we don’t have the knowledge." - Parent/Carer
On top of that, in cases of peer-to-peer abuse, parents may be friends with each other or unknown to each other, making it awkward or uncomfortable to address problems directly. There exists a social dynamic at play that can make honest conversations feel risky.
A child’s school is the number one source of information for parents/carers seeking trusted advice3. This can be especially true for families from Culturally and Linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who may struggle to understand the support services available to them in Australia and require assistance to make a report to the platform or eSafety.
What powers do schools currently have to deal with these types of incidents?
At first glance, increasing the power of principals may seem like a reasonable solution, but it comes with a host of complications, particularly in the state school system where kids can literally be left with nowhere else to go.
The challenges:
- The burden of proof now rests with principals, who face a time-consuming and complex process when it comes to suspensions or expulsions.
- Even when a student is suspended or expelled, they can still harass, threaten, or intimidate others online.
- Expelled students often struggle to find placement in another school, raising equity issues and concerns around long-term educational disengagement.
The potential positives:
- A suspension can provide a much-needed circuit breaker, giving the target time and space to rebuild relationships without the instigator’s interference.
- It allows instigators to be held accountable for their online behaviour, and ensures parents are notified and brought into the conversation.
Signs your child might be a target of cyberbullying:
- They might become sad or anxious after using their device
- Secretive or private around their device use (scared if you find out you’ll ban the device)
- Avoiding talking about what’s happening
- Not wanting to go to school
Barriers to speaking up:
- Fear of retaliation and making it worse
- Fear that nothing will change/ the problem is too big
- Fear of losing access to their device or the platform
- Fear of punishment, shame or judgements
- Fear of being labelled a ‘dobber’ or a snitch
Partner with Evolve Education to build a safer digital future.
We work directly with students to help them become ethical, kind, and responsible digital citizens. Our programs support schools to prevent and respond to online harm, while our work with parents empowers them to manage these challenges at home—reducing the pressure on educators. Let’s work together to create safer, more supportive online environments for young people.
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