Fun, Not Destruction, on 'Prank Day'
The annual 'senior prank day' at Barrington High School today was all about celebration -- not vandalism or inappropriate pranks, according to several students.
Senior prank day today, June 1, at Barrington High School seems to have gone off with good clean fun – no vandalism or destruction and no reports of arrests or warnings, according to several seniors and the principal.
As in years’ past, the day ended with a parade led by the marching band through the hallways and out to the 50-yard line on the football field by most of the horn-blowing and whistle-tooting senior class.
The day was mostly celebratory, said a senior who was helping to clean off lockers written on with chalk as the day wound down.
Favorite teachers were targeted for pranks by the seniors, such as the fan of newspaper-comics whose classroom windows were covered with favorite comic strips.
Another cat-loving teacher arrived to find classroom windows covered by cat pictures and an empty cage sitting in the room.
Several water balloons did explode over some freshmen, said another senior. But there was no lasting damage, nothing permanent.
Vaseline was applied to the combination locks of some lockers and on some door handles. But there was no glue or spray paint.
And the tables in the library were overturned for a short while, with several found in the hallway, said a senior. The tables were quickly righted.
Seniors also posted signs around the school asking about the teacher who disappeared in mid-year without the students being told what happened to her. All they have been told is she resigned.
There also was a large Class of 2012 flag hung in the cafeteria. And a chalk mural was sketched in the front circle. It thanked teachers and staff for four great years, a senior said.
Teachers arriving at the parking lot entrance were asked to make a contribution to the student-run American Cancer Society Relay For Life that will take place at the high school field on June 15. The seniors raised about $200 in 5s, 10s and 20s.
Most of the pranks were organized and discussed on a Facebook page with at least 80 percent of the seniors taking part. The page was set up a couple of months ago, a senior said.
Those pranks were described as “sanctioned” by the senior class.
Silly string was in abundance at the school, including it being used for one “inappropriate message” that was quickly torn down, a senior said. It was attributed to a “rogue senior.”
Dressed-down Barrington police officers roamed the hallways, but they were not conspicuous, a senior said. They did check a keg of root beer that was toted into the school.
Principal Joseph Hurley believes the officers, dressed in polo shirts and khaki pants, "made a world of difference."
"They also had the right attitude," Hurley said.
He added: "The day was in some ways quieter than usual because we were all out of the office."
Without a report from the police department, senior prank day this year seemed entirely about fun and celebration, said the seniors, unlike the last couple of years with glue in lockers and pigs running in the hallway.
Linda
4:33 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
Nicely done Class of 2012!
Dluvnpeace
4:37 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
I had no doubt that this Prank day would go off without a hitch. This senior Class took great care to ensure that they made this day about good natured fun. This was a last day of childhood fun for the BHS class of 2012 before graduating and going off to a stellar list of Colleges and Universities throughout the country. Thanks for keeping it Classy 2012 - you will be remembered for it!!
Ben Wojcik
5:26 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
As a member of the class of 2012 thank you for writing this. The article couldn't describe it any better. The pranks were not harmful but rather clever and crazy ideas meant to celebrate a difficult 4 years.
weakkkk
6:15 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
weak 2012, step your game up.
Troll Hellman
6:21 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
I'd like to say that these seniors are absolutely out of control. The administration is to blame. Our kids are running around like deranged psychopaths, vandalizing school property and creating a great disturbance with their cat pictures and comic strips. I can't believe the school wasted 23,000 dollars on this year's senior prank day, those funds could be appropriated far more effectively. William, you should be ashamed of yourself. There is only one master of writing senior prank day articles, and he will forever be Joel Hellman. http://barrington.patch.com/blog_posts/it-is-time-for-adults-to-take-charge-at-the-high-school. Mr. Hellman will be notified.
Manifold Witness
8:31 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
... and the HS sold for 99 cents, 5 pigs and a mouse.
Oops - the mouse is a permanent resident so deduct the mouse from the purchase price.
Good job raising money for the American Cancer Society! Thank you for this!
Have a great summer.
Please, please, please be safe.
Please, please, please be safe.
(I know – I repeated it on purpose.)
Do great things. Be great people.
A big life is made one little decision at a time.
Be the one who speaks up ...
even when you know that, at first,
no one will understand what you're about to say...
and, at second thought,
no one will want to hear what you need to say.
Save the world - we're counting on you.
Be kind to one another.
And, yes, to the Joels of the world.
Underneath it all, they care about you
and that does count for something.
Memorize the poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling.
This will come in handy.
Don't ask why.
Just trust me on this.
Plan your life so that you don’t end up a “Used To”…
as in, “I used to run”…
or, “I used to lift weights” …
or, “I used to care”…
or, "I used to try"...
or, “I used to laugh”..
or, "I used to turn up the music & dance & sing right out loud -
even when I was alone"... "especially when I was alone".
Now get out there and make us proud.
BHSStudent
9:32 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012
Actually 2 people went home crying because upperclassmen harassed/hit them. I'm not just making this up, my teacher told us about it in class. Also, I kind of thought it was dangerous because of all of the stuff in the hallways. (Water, eggs, glitter,etc.) I know of at least 4 kids who slipped and/or fell because of it. Toilet water was being splashed by people as well, not only seniors. The worst thing was the crickets and mice that were released the day before. They were tortured and killed by students and I was so sad to hear this. What kind of monster would go around inducing pain on helpless living creatures "just for fun?" I know people are going to say that I'm wrong and it was only a few students but that was just what I noticed but overall (besides the crickets and mice) nothing serious or extremely harmful/dangerous happened.
Pam
8:02 am on Saturday, June 2, 2012
I'm glad you were honest enough to mention the mice, crickets, water and eggs, since those pranks were left out of this article. I don't consider releasing living creatures into the school to be harmless fun. While it is nice to read an article (and not just comments) from the seniors' perspective, I do feel that some important (and negative) aspects of senior prank day were left out.
RIReader
2:47 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
Those pranks, Pam, happened out of no where on Thursday and the administration handled them well, removing the students who committed these acts.
Colby
5:25 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
I don't believe it was "harmless fun" at all! My son's car was vandalized! I will be filing a police report. At dismissal yesterday, he noticed a disgusting pic had been painted on to the hood of his car, and while driving out, had a boulder thrown at the car. According to my son, the principal witnessed the entire incident, and did nothing. His door is dented, but I'm grateful it was the door and not my child!
FranDrescher37
6:02 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
You're lucky my daughter's car was egged and there is a crack in the windshield! this administration is terrible!
Ali Javery
10:40 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
I am a senior at the high school. As I was driving out of the parking lot, my car was hit with two water balloons. The administration was doing as much as possible to stop the kids who were throwing things at the cars, but there was only so much that could have been done without the police force out in the parking lot. Do not blame the administration or the class of 2012. Blame the few kids who chose to be destructive and inappropriate on prank day.
Amy Entin
2:35 pm on Sunday, June 3, 2012
Thank you so much for this article!
In response to some of the other comments: I am very sorry on behalf of those who vandalized your cars. However, it is unfair to blame it on either the administration or the entire class of 2012. Our administration is wonderful and worked incredibly hard all year, not just the day of, to keep the day safe for everyone. They are, unfortunately, only human and can only be in so many places at once, but they absolutely did the best they could. Moreover, when I talked to several adults at the end of the day, they told me that a good portion of the vandalism (car egging, etc) was done bu underclassmen hoping to get away with it because it would be pinned on the seniors. The animals were released by a super-senior who had previously been kicked out of several other schools, and were not done on senior prank day, but were dealt with efficiently and appropriately by the administration.
The seniors this year worked hard as a class to keep our pranks fun and harmless; as usual, there were several people that did their best to ruin it, but everything that was an official prank of the class of 2012 was harmless; it was just a few rogue seniors that took the day as an excuse for inappropriate behavior. I believe (as, I think, does most of the school) that the good greatly outweighed the bad this year; if nothing else, it was at least a step in the right direction for the future, and an improvement of the last few years.
-Proud Class of 2012 Senior
Amy Entin
2:35 pm on Sunday, June 3, 2012
PS - did anyone else have a lot of trouble posting their comment? It took me at least four tries before the website would let me...
Pamela
7:08 am on Monday, June 4, 2012
Pointing blame... I applaud the class of 2012 for their efforts to keep Senior Prank Day fun and innocent. In the blogosphere it was warned that, while 99% of the kids intend no harm and merely want to have a fun last day of school; It's the 1% that always ruins it! I don't believe that you can distance yourself by blaming rogue seniors or underclassmen for "unofficial" pranks, many of us more seasoned people saw this coming! The problem is... The Senior Prank Day. Few if any other school districts have a senior prank day, certainly none as overt and destructive as ours! It's time for a change. I recommend the administration do away with Senior Prank Day altogether! Before all you kids start wailing, let's put our heads together and come up with a truly fitting end of the school year celebration for seniors that exclude Senior Prank Day.
Ali Javery
5:55 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
I have to disagree, we are not pointing blame, only trying to convey what the truth is. Here are my points: First, we DID separate ourselves from the 1%. The 1% did not ruin our last day fun, because we did not let them. Everyone in the school knows that our class was responsible and tried to make a change from past years prank day. Second, I know plenty of other surrounding schools that have senior pranks (such as Seekonk, DR, ect.), ours are just highlighted because our town is placed under the social media spotlight. Third, while it may be called senior prank day, none of the acts we committed as the class of 2012 were truly pranks. A chalk mural isn't a prank, a signed 2012 flag that was approved by the principal is not a prank, hanging up posters is not a prank, a parade at the end of the day is a senior tradition, not a prank. I found our activities to be quite spirited and non destructive, and Mr. Hurley even congratulated us for a successful non destructive day. So the problem isn't the senior prank day, its the few individuals who choose to rebel against what the 99% of us wants to do. In life, not just in high school, there will always be that 1%, and doing away with "senior prank day" is neither going to get rid of those individuals nor stop those kids from doing destructive things to the school. It's their responsibility to mature and realize what they're doing is completely irresponsible and stupid. All we can do is set an example for them.
John
12:18 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
class of 2012 was weak shoulda stepped it up. The 1% do the funniest things and if your gonna complain about your kids car getting vandalized at the school you shouldnt have sent them to school...but since you did you have no basis for your complaint. And when you say a "boulder" was thrown at your sons car, i feel like you must be special because idk about you but idk many ppl who can throw a boulder