Seven students have lost the privilege to graduate from high school at the end of this school year, after they took several pictures in lewd positions in a classroom.

The students, who attend a high school in Clarendon, have been allowed to sit their CXC examinations, but will not be graduating.

The students were seen in photographs showing their underwear and genitals. "The students involved have not been in trouble with the school before. They are very penitent but the school had to take action because of the seriousness of the incident," the principal of the school told THE STAR.

The principal said he took a conscious decision not to look at the pictures after it was found by teachers. He said he did not need to see the photos to make a decision. "There's no halfway for me. Either they were involved or not," he said.

Sexual positions

The pictures, which were taken about three weeks ago when the students were about to go on break from school, surfaced about a week ago. They were discovered by a teacher who found them on a student's jump drive when he was about to do an information technology examination.

THE STAR obtained copies of the photographs which shows four girls hoisted on chairs and desk tops by several boys. In some of the pictures the girl's were exposing their vaginas while in others sexual positions were being simulated with the three boys.

Since the pictures 'came out', the school's administrators have held meetings with the students who were seen in the photographs and their parents.

Following the meeting the decision was taken that the students also receive counselling. "Those students involved were sent to the guidance counsellor for counselling," the principal said.

He said based on their investigations, two boys were joking around and it got out of hand, and that led to the lewd photographs.

He also said the students would be considered individually if they apply to attend sixth form. "What we have decided is it would be taken on a case by case basis ... we have to take everything into consideration. It will depend on several factors, such as if they complete the counselling successfully, and so on," he said.

In the meantime, he said the school's administration was discussing ways to prevent incidents such as these from reoccurring at the school. They were looking at regulating the use of technological devices, such as cameras, at the school.