Parenting Daily

If you’re the parent of a graduating high school senior, you’ve probably heard of senior skip days and senior pranks. At many high schools, senior skip days are almost a sanctioned event. The schools know the teens are going to do it anyway and it is their last year, after all, so why not give them a little reward? When I was a senior, my high school did let us have a senior skip day without penalty. Of course, I was in a bit of a rebellious stage so I took liberties and had my own senior skip mornings, afternoons, and days scattered throughout the year. (Disclaimer: Not advocating that multiple skips are okay for teens!! Just saying, in the interest of full disclosure…). At any rate, it doesn’t hurt to check in with your teen and their school to see what, if anything, they allow.

My graduating high school class also indulged in a senior prank. It was close to graduation but not the last school day beforehand, as happens with many schools. I didn’t participate in that because, frankly, I wanted to be away from the school as much as possible. Going back at night to do something just didn’t interest me. And when we came to school the next day and saw what the seniors had done, I was glad I hadn’t participated. Our class went above and beyond just silliness. They spray-painted the asphalt in front of the school, the grass, and if I remember correctly they somehow welded the chains and locks on the outside of the entrance doors. There was talk of those who participated not being able to graduate but I believe they all did. I was also shocked by who participated—some were students who had never been trouble-makers at all and were, in fact, kind of “goody-goodies.”

These days, now that I work in a juvenile probation department, I realize that those seniors could have faced criminal mischief charges or worse. If there were any charges involved back then, I never heard of it. At any rate, it wouldn’t hurt to pay attention to any end-of-the-year whispers from your teens and their friends. Maybe even point out to them some examples of pranks gone wrong—either leading to criminal charges, financial responsibilities for repairs, or even withholding diplomas. Remind your teen that they’ve put in a lot of work to get to this point and it’s not worth it to blow it all for one night of “fun”.

Click here for a run down of some senior class pranks collected by MTV.

Click here for a story from last spring where police were called in to investigate the prank.

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