A shocking case of alleged harassment, online abuse and retaliatory violence at one of Türkiye’s most prestigious high schools has thrust the country’s worsening crisis of peer bullying and student misconduct back into the national spotlight.
The latest case involves Istanbul High School for Boys (İstanbul Erkek Lisesi), a prestigious institution. It is claimed that a group of ninth-grade male students compiled a 507-item list containing sexually explicit, degrading and abusive statements targeting female students, including threats of harassment and sexual violence
The list, allegedly circulated among students, was uncovered by one pupil who found its contents deeply disturbing and then shared it widely throughout the school.
In response, a group of 11th-grade students allegedly entered the ninth-grade dormitory and severely assaulted the seven students implicated in creating the list.
The case has become increasingly tangled amid conflicting statements from parents and students, with accusations ranging from systematic privacy violations and digital abuse to outright denials of the list’s authenticity.
School administrators are currently conducting an investigation.
This incident echoes a string of other recent, widely publicized cases across the country, such as the scandal last month in the western province of İzmir, where students exploited AI tools to fabricate and distribute explicit deepfake images of female classmates and educators, fueling widespread outrage over digital abuse in schools.
The School-Family Association has expressed profound regret over the matter spilling into the public domain, insisting that only a thorough, impartial and multifaceted investigation can limit further harm to the students and safeguard the institution’s long-standing reputation.
