Senior prank

A stairwell filled with balloons at a Gymnasium in Saarbrücken, Germany

A senior prank, also known as muck-up day in Australia[1] and the United Kingdom,[2][3] is a type of organized prank by the senior class of a school, college, or university. They are often carried out at or near the end of the academic year and are part of school traditions. While most senior pranks are harmless, more severe pranks can include damage to school property and other crimes, which can result in disciplinary or even legal repercussions against the perpetrators.[4][5]

Common pranks

Common senior pranks include but are not limited to:[citation needed]

  • Adopting unusual or fancy dress, especially at schools with strict uniform policies
  • Using water pistols, stink bombs, water balloons, or shaving cream, on each other or on teachers
  • Issuing fake announcements over the public address system
  • Starting barbecues in unusual places
  • Imposing parking levies on the staff car park
  • Issuing staff with detentions or uniform infringements
  • Putting small polystyrene balls in the air conditioning, thus making it 'snow' in the building
  • Chalk graffiti
  • Filling elevators with hay or spreading bird seed in the staff parking lot to attract birds that then deconstruct the cars[6][failed verification]
  • Setting up tents and making it appear that the seniors had camped overnight on school grounds
  • Having a party in a faculty/underclassmen parking lot to confuse the parking situation
  • Toilet Papering the school or power lines around the school
  • Changing the sound that the school bell makes after each period

Responses

Incidents such as graffiti, vandalism or harming other students are dealt with in a number of ways, as the students despite finishing school have not yet graduated and, in the case of students enrolled in academic subjects, have yet to sit their exams. In extreme cases, or those involving non-students who turn up on the day, the police may be called. Some schools announce a day off for the rest of the school, while others conduct an assembly to formally farewell the final-year students during the day's events.[citation needed]

By region

United States

Part of a senior prank at a school in New Hampshire, in which several doorways were blocked with chairs

The practice has been banned within some schools in the United States, and replaced with formal leaving activities to ensure students do not commit crimes or vandalize school or other property.[citation needed]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, muck-up days are common in private schools and state schools, and members of staff (particularly grounds staff and porters) often unofficially assist the perpetrators.[citation needed] Examples of such traditions include stealing the school's clocks as makeshift trophies or removing styluses for interactive whiteboards.[citation needed]

Australia

In Australia, muck-up days are a common practice in many schools, although their nature has evolved over the years such that activities are usually pre-approved by staff (e.g., a year coordinator) and may not harm staff, students or property.[citation needed] At Scotch College in Perth, the Year 12 boys' valedictory dinner was cancelled by the school after some students vandalised and ran partially naked through two nearby girls' schools.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Victor, Terry; Dalzell, Tom (2007). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p. 444. ISBN 9781134615346.
  2. ^ Young, Sheila M. (2019). Prenuptial Rituals in Scotland: Blackening the Bride and Decorating the Hen. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 170. ISBN 9781793603876.
  3. ^ Education Correspondent, Nicola Woolcock (16 May 2019). "Head cancels school prom after girls' last-day pranks". The Times. Retrieved 5 November 2019. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "Students Let Animals Loose in School". Huron Daily Tribune. 2003-06-05. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  5. ^ "Tennessee high school principal suspended, 100 students banned from graduation for senior prank". New York Daily News. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  6. ^ Sun, the Beatrice Daily (23 May 2013). "100 pounds of birdseed irreparably damages new Beatrice field". Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  7. ^ Catanzaro, Joseph (17 October 2009). "College cancels dinner after muck up day antics". The West Australian.