Senior Prank - what do you think

[DopeyDame]

Ok so who could have let them in that would be "authorized". If the school board member has a key (and I really don't understand why he/she would have had a key in the first place), then that person is authorized to unlock the door and have access to the school and as such, he/she allowed the students that same access.

What these kids did was harmless. The punishment is ridiculous.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! (That just seemed appropriate for this thread.) As a student, I felt quite confident that any adult in a leadership position at the school (teachers, principal, parents on the mom/dads club, coaches, etc.) were "authorized" to give me permission to do things. If they weren't, they let me know who I was supposed to ask. I can't begin to imagine why you think an entire school board would be involved with giving permission for someone to be on school grounds. Could you imagine how that would work? "Hey teacher X, I know it's after hours, but you're still here and you have a key, would you mind if you let me in to school so I could go grab a book?" "Sure Johnny, I'm happy to help, but first let me call a session of the school board so we can obtain proper authorization to be on school grounds."

As an adult, I wouldn't even think to question that. If a teacher at my kids school has a key and lets me in, I think it's quite reasonable for that to constitute permission for me to be on school grounds.

As a total aside, I think I finally just noticed that luvmy3 and luvsjack are two different posters, which makes sense because I have totally been confused by some of your responses on other posts that just didn't seem like something you would say! The luv must have been throwing me off...

 

[FINFAN]

How do you get to a point in life where you are so devoid of a sense of humor that you're firing people and suspending students over stuff like this?

I'm with the lighten up folks. Geeze it was a harmless prank! I don't think anyone should be punished and I mean anyone from the school board on down.


I think it is kinda cute. My DD's class zip tied everything they could get their hands on, including the teachers scissors. And since they were't allowed knives any more..........

I love the irony!

 

[DizBelle]

When I first saw the title I thought "suck it up kids, if you do the crime, you do the time." But when I saw the details... it doesn't even sound like the kids did anything wrong!
They did what sounds like a FUN, creative prank that not only didn't hurt anyone, but probably gave a lot of people some great smiles. The person who most has a right to be PO'd - the Janitor - was there and, presumably, was OK with it. The kids had at least tacit permission from a school board member, which means it was completely reasonable for them to assume it was an OK thing to do.

The Principal can be mad at the board member and the janitor, but I have a really hard time seeing why the kids should be punished at all!

If it's an "OK thing to do" is it really a prank? It's like saying that doing your homework is a prank.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

How do you get to a point in life where you are so devoid of a sense of humor that you're firing people and suspending students over stuff like this?

Agreed! Good grief...

 

[Heidict]

Well, yeah...they are high school kids. It's one of the last times in their life when they can be care free.

They hurt nobody and didn't cause permanent damage.

People need to lighten up. I can't believe how, what's the word, prude people have become.

It seems you can't do anything these days without some people going overboard and freaking out. I can't imagine living that rigid and boring of a life. I think it would be even worse to be one of their kids. Can you imagine the stories those kids could tell? Some people manage to suck the joy out of anything.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't think anyone is complaining because the kids got punished... it's the LEVEL of punishment.

Make the kids clean up their "prank". Make them spend an hour a day after school for a week cleaning gum off the bottom of desks. THAT is appropriate punishment.

A suspension? Too much IMO. ESPECIALLY for those who protested.

 

[Tiggernut_jadie]

I think the suspension of the students involved in the prank should stand. They violated school rules, and the punishment is suspension. The fact that it was a harmless prank doesn't really matter. Actions have consequences, and if you are willing to do the action, then you should be willing to suck up the consequences.

The board member should absolutely be asked to resign.

The punishment was for trespassing, not just the prank itself.

Wow you sound like a bundle of laughs...I'll bet the cold winter nights just fly by in your house!

 

[Minnesota!]

I don't agree with anyone being asked to resign, being reprimanded or being suspended. These kids didn't cause any kind of lasting damage, it was a fun, clean prank that would be easy to clean up. Much better than some pranks I've heard of.....I wish more of our kids could be creative like that instead of destructive.

It was a harmless prank, no property was harmed, nobody was hurt and it was easily cleaned up.

Sounds like someone needs to pay a midnight visit to the superintendents house and TP some trees.

How do you get to a point in life where you are so devoid of a sense of humor that you're firing people and suspending students over stuff like this?

It would suck to be the kids of some of the people on the DIS...devoid of a sense of humor.

 

[Laura]

It was a harmless prank, no property was harmed, nobody was hurt and it was easily cleaned up.

Sounds like someone needs to pay a midnight visit to the superintendents house and TP some trees.

People need to lighten up and take a lesson from the students at MIT: http://hacks.mit.edu/

 

[duffy]

 

[connorlevismom]

Wow you sound like a bundle of laughs...I'll bet the cold winter nights just fly by in your house!

I just BURST out laughing at my desk when I read this. I am sure my coworkers wonder what the hell just happened in my cube.

Thank you for a great end to my work day!

 

[cabanafrau]

First of all, if they broke a window and went in that would be breaking and entering, and the punishment for that would probably be greater.
It doesn't matter that a group of 17 and 18 year olds were ignorant to the fact that they weren't supposed to be there, they were there, unauthorized by the proper people. One school board member doesn't get to make those decisions on their own. That is why there is a "board". So, yes they were in fact trespassing.

I'm no lawyer, but I'd bet good money I could give these kids a more than respectable affirmative defense based on their reasonable assumption they did have tacit authorization to be there, by not only one, but two persons they had very good reason to assume did have the authority to allow them to not only be there, but continue on with their activities by virtue of the fact no attempt was made to stop them.

I'm definitely not one to coddle kids and excuse mummy's wittle snowflakes, but the world has enough real problems. What kind of idiots think this should have gone beyond the pranksters being called out in front of a school assembly, given uniforms they don't want to be caught dead in and made to clear away their artistic endeavor?

Using your reasoning I could mount a darn good prosecution of your children if they were to head back up to the school after hours and attract the custodian's attention to let them in to retrieve their chemistry book they left in their locker. After all, is the custodian authorized to let them in? It's the rules, common sense be hanged!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

OMG. Some people truly do not get the difference between HARMLESS prank and HARM AGAINST ANOTHER person crime.

Perhaps the school board member and the janitor were there to be sure nothing untoward happened! I think that the "prank" shows creativity, and fun. They didn't hurt anyone, or any tangible item.

Oh, they trespassed? Well, what if they'd gone to school and did yard work, or did some sort of top to bottom cleaning as their prank. Would that have been viewed as trespassing too?

I think it's a healthy display of fun, unlike some other pranks. You know, like holding down a classmate and cutting off his hair? Or like beating a drum major to death on a school bus? How's that for a hazing, huh?

These kids used PAPER and did nothing to another human being. They damaged no property.

 

[Scurvy]

I'm a huge stickler for rules. I don't even like it when people sneak food into a movie theater! However, in this case I think the punishment was ridiculous. The kids came up with a creative and nondestructive senior prank. As long as they cleaned up afterward they shouldn't have been punished. The janitor certainly shouldn't have been - I think he did a good thing by observing to make sure the students didn't do anything to damage the school. The only questionable one in my opinion was the board member and that depends completely on the school system. Some places wouldn't have had any problem with what she did. The only people I personally would have punished are those who walked out of class, since I think that they actually did do something wrong. If they wanted to protest in some way, they should have done it before or after school and not during class time.

 

[snowy76]

I think it's creative and cute as far as senior pranks go... one year our kids released CRICKETS in the teachers' bathrooms - not fun for us!!! If anyone was hurt, that would be another story.

A year or two ago, the seniors decided to have a flash mob of sorts convene in the student parking lot and camp out for the night. Security came by, but let them stay - one of the administrators even joined them eventually! No one would've dreamed of punishing them.

This school needs to lighten up.

 

[NaLisa]

One more vote for the punishment being too severe for the "crime." I think they should have had to clean up the mess (after letting everyone enjoy the creative artwork for a couple of days) and that should've been the end of it.

I especially feel bad for the custodian. Surely he feels that the school board member with a key is his boss and that the kids were authorized to be there based on the fact that they were let into the building by the school board member with a key?!

I think rebelling and pulling pranks is a normal part of adolescence, and if kids find a safe way to pull a prank in which no one is hurt (physically or otherwise) and no property is damaged, we should chuckle along with them instead of punishing them.

 

[ols386]

It seems like a pretty harmless prank, so don't think the students should be disciplined.

Doesn't seem like a board member would have the authority to let the students in the school, after hours, when there wasn't any kind of organized sporting event or some kind of club meeting.

I don't get why the custodian should be disciplined at all. What did he do besides watch what they were doing. For all he knew, it was an approved activity, since the board member let them in.

 

[Nancy]

My take is "much ado about nothing". Senior pranks have been going on for as long as there have been seniors. Some are mild, some are damaging. The damaging ones should be punished.

My youngest daughter's senior class president and his group of friends got suspended and could not graduate with the class because their prank involved spray paint and the outside of the building. Really stupid.

They didn't spray anything nasty, just the class of XXXX, but still caused damage to the school. They got caught because there are cameras outside that recorded the car pulling in and out of the lot..and another one catching them doing it. So, not only a dumb stunt, but a bunch of dumb kids.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

School administrators overreacting...that seems typical.

Worst punishment should have been cleaning it up. No jobs should be lost, no board members resigning.

 

[CathrynRose]

Way to suck even more fun out of going to school. These kids did nothing wrong but have a little (clean) fun. With what most seniors are doing these days (both in and out of school), they should be awarded for being good kids.

AGree - 100%

Post It Notes....really??? Geez.