A senior prank is a prank organized by the graduating class of a school meant as a final act from students of the institution. Usually characterized by silly, comical actions, it isn’t uncommon for videos of senior pranks to pop up on one’s social media feed.
Images of students roaming their school’s halls, giggling and scheming fill phone and computer screens toward the end of any school year. One group of seniors from Santa Barbara High School started their pranking by shrink wrapping their principal’s belongings.
They continued by venturing far out of the creative box and hired a mariachi band to follow their principal around their school’s campus while playing music for about an hour and a half. Luckily, Santa Barbara High School’s principal found the events humorous.
These pranks, however entertaining they may be to those watching on a screen, can become obnoxious to those on the receiving end. Oftentimes pranks can be used as a guise for bad intentions.
There have been many cases of students being arrested for the “pranks” they pulled, marring their permanent records. Pranks involving vandalism, releasing rodents and providing teachers with snacks laced with laxatives cross the line of fun-filled senior pranks.
These pranks should be fun, but an innocent fun. Conducting something illegal and potentially dangerous isn’t logical and can result in trouble for all parties involved, even bystanders.
A senior class attending Chopticon High School in Morganza, Md., released thousands of ladybugs on campus as their senior pranks. Ladybugs are a seemingly harmless animal, but releasing a mass amount of them resulted in chaos and those involved faced multiple criminal charges as a result.
Some of these extreme situations can be resolved with further cooperation and communication between the senior class and the schools’ administration. Doing so would ensure that the students involved are operating within the schools’ rules and will not be punished elsewhere and will also ensure that administrators are properly equipped and prepared for the events that will inevitably transpire.
The administration of most schools are usually more than willing to approve a senior prank so long as they are somewhat involved in the process. Approaching them with plans beforehand offers transparency and students are less likely to get in trouble should something go wrong.
Students should be able to plan and execute their pranks, as long as they abide by school policy and do not disrupt the school day too much.
Though a nuisance to those not partaking in the prank, senior pranks can offer a sense of closure for students soon to leave. Through senior pranks, students are able to leave a mark on the school while giving something for underclassmen to look forward to as they rise through the ranks.
Photo courtesy of Mashable
