Should students face criminal charges for senior pranks?
Senior pranks are a tradition at some high schools: Outgoing students play some harmless joke on faculty and other students before they move on to the next chapter of their lives.
But some senior pranks can cost hundreds of dollars in damage. And, rather than handle the incidents with the students and their parents, some schools are choosing to pursue criminal charges.
For example, about 30 students entered an Arkansas high school to throw cereal in the hallways, spray-paint walls and trash other areas – and they were suspended for five days and were banned from attending graduation. The school superindendent told KAIT-TV that the school has also filed criminal charges.
i feel so bad for osceola.. only 39 of their seniors get to walk for graduation bc of their senior prank :/
— m (@primadonnamo) May 10, 2016
“Them having to do community service, that's enough,” Denise McBride, one student’s aunt, told KAIT. “Why not give them that satisfaction of walking across that stage? That's why they worked so hard.”
In another recent case, an Arizona student posed for a football group photo - reportedly with his genitalia out – on a dare from his friends. Evidently, no one noticed the exposure in the photo and the picture was distributed in the school yearbook.
The student was initially charged with 69 counts of indecent exposure — for the amount of people around when the picture was taken — and one count of furnishing harmful material to minors, which is a felony. He was 18 when the picture was taken. Charges have since been dropped.
19yo Red Mountain HS football player says he's "disgusted" with himself after he revealed his privates in team photo, according to PD report
— Derek Staahl (@DerekStaahl) May 2, 2016
His classmates told KPHO/KTVK that they wouldn’t have noticed what was in the photo if they weren’t instructed where to look and that the punishment seemed harsh.
In Texas, students were charged for sawing off the hooves of a mascot bull statue and moving it from a courtyard to the softball field. Jim Geer, owner of All Fiberglass Repair, told WOAI that re-hoofing it would cost $600 to $700.
3 boys charged in senior prank: "There's a fine line between humor and vandalism, and this turned into vandalism." https://t.co/WV1zqcH4CC
— Michael Locklear (@MichaelLocklear) April 14, 2016
The principal said the students would face unspecified disciplinary action with the school and charges for criminal mischief.
Not all schools pursue criminal punishments. When students in Minnesota went into their school after hours, put balloons everywhere and used cups to spell out “2016,” their school responded differently.
The 27 students’ driving privileges were taken away and they were banned from all senior functions, including banquets and athletics, but not graduation.
This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Should students face criminal charges for senior pranks?."