The Secondary Principals' Association says the mall operator Westfield was wrong to ban all uniformed Mt Albert Grammar students from an Auckland mall because of two assaults.
Two girls, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old, are accused of two separate assaults on members of the public at St Lukes mall earlier this month, and the headmaster of their school says he wants to see them charged.
Westfield New Zealand banned all uniformed Mt Albert Grammar students from the St Lukes mall, saying it had concerns for the safety of shoppers and retailers while the school was trying to identify the girls.
The ban has since been lifted, but Secondary Principals Association president Patrick Walsh says it was too harsh and could even have been a breach of the Bill of Rights Act, because it discriminated against any student wearing the uniform.
Mr Walsh says bullying and violence are national issues and shouldn't just be blamed on schools and students.
Suspended from school
The alleged assaults occurred earlier in March and involved three girls, two of them pupils at Mt Albert Grammar.
The first incident involved a former student and two current pupils aged 13 and 14 who allegedly assaulted a man believed to be of Indian descent. The man was with a preschool child.
The same three girls are then accused of attacking an Indian woman inside the mall a week later.
Headmaster Dale Burden says the two students have been suspended and will face a board of trustees meeting on Friday.
Westfield says the girls allegedly involved will not be allowed to return to the premises.
