The Cathedral College, Rockhampton

Cathedral College Rockhampton, once esteemed for its commitment to education and student welfare, has fallen prey to a toxic culture rampant with issues such as bullying, blackmail, harassment, and unprofessional conduct among teachers. This essay delves into the detrimental impact of these practices on students' well-being and academic endeavors, with a particular focus on personal experiences that underscore the urgent need for reform.
My firsthand encounter with Cathedral College Rockhampton's toxic environment occurred when I received detention for recording someone speaking derogatorily about me. The recording was made in defense, an attempt to document the harassment I endured on a daily basis. However, instead of addressing the root cause of the problem—bullying—the school administration opted to punish me, the victim, for seeking recourse. This incident epitomizes the culture of victim-blaming and indifference that permeates the institution.
Bullying at Cathedral College Rockhampton is not an isolated incident but rather a systemic issue deeply ingrained in the school's culture. Students, myself included, have been subjected to various forms of bullying, including verbal abuse, physical intimidation, and cyberbullying. The pervasive nature of bullying has created a climate of fear and insecurity, wherein victims feel powerless to seek help or speak out against their tormentors. The lack of effective intervention from school authorities further exacerbates the problem, perpetuating a cycle of abuse and trauma.
In addition to bullying, Cathedral College Rockhampton is plagued by incidents of blackmail and harassment, wherein students are coerced into silence or compliance through threats of exposure or further mistreatment. This insidious behavior not only victimizes individuals but also erodes trust and fosters a culture of fear and secrecy. Victims of blackmail and harassment are left to suffer in silence, their voices silenced by the fear of retaliation and ostracization.
Furthermore, the conduct of teachers at Cathedral College Rockhampton has been far from exemplary. Reports of teachers swearing at students, displaying favoritism, and engaging in inappropriate behavior have surfaced, further contributing to the toxic environment within the school. Instead of serving as role models and mentors, these educators perpetuate a culture of disrespect and disregard for students' well-being, undermining the very principles of education they are meant to uphold.
The pervasive culture of bullying, blackmail, harassment, and unprofessional conduct at Cathedral College Rockhampton is a stain on the institution's reputation and a grave injustice to its students. My own experience of receiving detention for attempting to defend myself is just one example of the systemic failures that plague the school. Urgent action is needed to address these issues and cultivate a safe, respectful, and nurturing environment for all members of the school community. It is imperative that school authorities acknowledge the severity of the problem and take concrete steps to implement policies and interventions that prioritize student welfare and promote a culture of empathy, inclusion, and accountability. Only then can Cathedral College Rockhampton begin to reclaim its status as a beacon of learning and integrity.

Where do I even start.
If you are not one of the popular kids expect to be treated as a nobody for your entire stay here. The favouritism is so obvious it hurts. I can't even express how badly I was treated here simply because I didn't hang with the 'cool' crowd. The whole "we have a 0 tolerance for bullying" is the biggest load of shit I have ever heard. As someone who is short, wore glasses and was a bit of a weirdo I was the perfect target for bullies and no matter how bad it got and how many times I reported it nothing happened, I was told to go to the counselor whilst my harassers got off with a slap on the wrist. I was sexually harassed on multiple occasions, to which they told me that unless I had evidence they would remain guilty. Once people found out about the incident rumor spread that I was a whore and I had it coming. Literally no one but my friends believed me.
Make sure you are very smart or are good at sports or else teachers will pay absolutely so attention to you. All TCC cares about is academics and sport. They care more about their representation then they do their own students. They put so much money into a new library, and a new park and a whole two story administration building but god forbid they used that money to help out the arts departments. Year 11 and 12 were probably the most stressful years of my life, constantly being told that basically if I didn't get straight As in my classes I was going to fail out of high school. When I did start to struggle and I saw my grades slipping I was begging for help and every time all I got back from my teachers was "maybe if you worked a little harder you wouldn't be in this predicament" thanks because that's exactly what I need to hear from the one person who is supposed to be guiding me along. I'm sorry I wasn't born Einstein and can't solve ridiculous equations in my head, I'm sorry I can't stay focused in your classes because you speak so fast I cant get the notes down in time. I know not everyone had the same experience at TCC as I did but I know many people who were in the same boat as me and I can guarantee that they too would never in a million years send their children to this school

I want to start off by saying that this is just my personal experience whilst attending TCC.
First off, when they say that bullying is 100% a no go and will be dealt with accordingly they are lying straight to your face. God forbid it was one of the leaders of the school doing the said bullying, you will be put into counseling and they will get a slap on the wrist and allowed to keep their title. If you weren't popular enough they honestly didn't give a shit. All they cared about was academics and sport. You weren't in either of those categories you were basically a nobody. You were struggling in a class, "do better", "try harder" because helping wasn't an option? I'm just supposed to work this out on my own?
Don't get me wrong, TCC has some amazing teachers, many of whom I miss but there are also your select few who just were pricks, that's the nicest I can put it. The types of teachers who didn't give a shit about the student, they favoured the popular kids and were just over all no help in classes. I suffered at TCC from year 7 all the way until I graduated. I was told that I would grow up to be nothing. Its been one and half years since I graduated, I am currently studying a bachelors at CQU and I have a full time job so I have that going for me.
I almost killed my self because of how immensely I was being bullied at that school and I had no one to help me. The teachers didn't do shit. I would sit in the corner of the classroom alone to try and get my work done and the boys would sit behind me and throw stuff or constantly call my name. I was called a slut on many occasions, rumors spread about me being in love with the guys in our grade who were deemed 'ugly'. To add the cherry on top I was and still am fairly short. Between that and wearing glasses I was one of the biggest targets for bullies in my grade.
I could go on for days about my horrible experiences at TCC but I think I might just leave it there for now

I was touched sexually at this school and harassed from year 7 to year 10 before I left to go to another school. During those year I was called fat ugly emo and was harassed constantly by students for year 7-8 and then once I entered year 9 it switched to slut shaming, sexual harassment and assault which lasted to the end of year 10 this school lets helicopter parents bully the students into submission in year ten I was sexually harassed by a boy in my grade and told that I had a flirty person And that he has autism so I should excuse the behaviour and then given a detention for reacting to be GROPED. This school is shit in easier terms a perfect representation of the worse side of the Catholic Church!

The teachers are incredibly unreasonable, detentions are issued for minor reasons regularly, they try to act “prestigious” when really they’re just overly strict. they do nothing about racism. they made up a ridiculous rule because having straps on our bags was “violating workplace health and safety”. BUT none of the special needs students have to follow this rule. In fact they ALWAYS give us the short side of the stick while special needs kids get away with everything. there is no punishment for them and they always make up excuses for them whenever they do something terrible (such as being racist). They got teachers saying the N word and do nothing about it. They have teachers that clearly have a racial prejudice against certain students. They didn’t follow Covid procedures back when there were mask mandates as on valentine’s day they were making year 12s kiss students. A lot of the teachers aren’t actually “teaching” just talking. The teachers always display clear favouritism and bias when getting mad at students, giving them detentions, splitting them up in class, etc. They make us sit outside no matter the heat, when all other schools stay inside whenever it gets too hot. They get mad at us for not doing the sign of the cross and participating in prayer even if it goes against our religion. There are never enough seats at the eating areas but the school doesn’t provide more but instead says “our school is not overcrowded you guys just sit in the wrong areas” when everybody literally sits in their correct area. The teachers are all on different pages when it comes to certain uniform rules where some teachers will give you detention for wearing something but if you go the the headmaster, he doesn’t see a problem with it. There is one specific teacher always out just walking around LOOKING for things to get people in trouble for. Their communication is terrible, unclear, last minute and sometimes non existent. Their way of getting rules across is through threatening rather than informing. They keep a lot of information or news about the school to themselves.
They don’t give the good and more favourable teachers good positions or opportunities so they always end up leaving. Only the sporty or academic kids get recognised whereas the creative more flexible kids rarely get any recognition or praise. Their way of setting up career pathways is atrocious. They don’t allow us to do a range of subjects nor don’t they allow us to do a mix of general and non-atar subjects. They openly tell the “smart kids” that they “won’t get anywhere if they dont go to uni”. They easily pressure and influence you to do certain subjects THEY want you to do rather than doing what subjects you want to do. They block random websites unnecessarily when they can be of benefit for studies and research. They have a total of 14 toilets for each gender (actual toilets, not toilet blocks) for a school of over 1300 students, so there are always extremely long lines at every toilet block. But they then get mad when students need to go to the bathroom during class. They made a rule that students can’t go out to go to the toilet or get a drink during class. They don’t allow students to write persuasive speeches about allowing abortion or euthanasia because they “have their own strong beliefs and writing about such goes against the beliefs of our catholic school”.
There are a few fun things such as a TCC day when all you do is activities yet even then they somehow make that not enjoyable by being strict on the dress code, making us stand outside under the sun, only providing us with 6 small gazebos, not allowing us to go to the toilet, etc.
They don’t provide enough hot food at the tuckshop based on the sheer size of the school, and a lot of the foods are overpriced compared to other schools’ tuckshop prices.
The headmaster is actually very nice first hand. Its just other teachers that act more important and entitled than they actually are.