Video surveillance footage has been handed to police after a group of teenagers stormed West Auckland's Lynfield College and attacked a pupil.
One of the attackers reportedly yelled out the name of an Afghani youth gang during the attack on Monday afternoon, which was possibly sparked by comments on the social networking website Bebo.
Principal Steve Bovaird said a group of teenagers burst through the door and attacked the pupil in front of other students and their teacher.
Most of the group were understood to be from Mt Roskill Grammar but were led to the victim by a Lynfield student.
The victim was punched a number of times and possibly kicked as well. He went for a medical check and was discharged. He had not returned to school yet, Mr Bovaird told Radio New Zealand.
One of the group had a softball bat but it was unclear whether it was used in attack. The teacher was threatened but not touched, Mr Bovaird said.
Video surveillance, which had been given to the police, showed the group of four to five teenagers were on the grounds for only two minutes.
They were not wearing uniforms and did not seem to try to hide their appearances but may not have known about the video surveillance, he said.
Mr Bovaird said staff tried to follow the group to identify them. Some members of the group were recognised.
It was too early to say for sure, but it appeared there was an ethnic element in the attack, he said.
There were two different ethnicities in the group, he said.
Mr Bovaird said the attack was akin to a home invasion. He was urging the mother of the attacked student to lay charges.
The community needed to make a clear statement that such incidents would not be tolerated, he said.
Mr Bovaird said schools were grappling with some aspects of social networking sites and some students didn't realise the offence they were causing when they posted comments online.
"You have to live with the ramifications of what you have said." The Mount Roskill Grammar students were not under the school's care on Monday, as it was a term holiday, One News reported.
Police and Mt Roskill Grammar were unavailable for comment this morning.
