Senior Pranks, Part 3

Amazing as it may sound, there are some things about this week’s senior pranks that made me very happy.

Partially because we have good relationships with our students and partially because the seniors really want to have a picnic on Monday, we know who pulled the pranks and they are receiving consequences. How do we know?

Students told me. In the case of the gunk on the lockers, seniors gave me the student’s name. I saw her and said, “There was a prank that caused two good, hard working women two extra hours of work this week. It ticks me off and I’m cancelling the picnic unless the student who did it comes forward, admits what she did wrong, and takes responsibility for it.” After she thought about it for a couple of periods, she and her friend came in to tell me what they did. These two seniors will not attend Monday’s picnic and better yet, they’ll be meeting our cleaners at 6:00 am on Monday to clean for them for two hours. I hope Carol and Maggie give them whatever cleaning job they most hate.

With the smoke bomb that went off twenty minutes before the end of the day, students approached me and gave me a name before they got on the bus. Mr. Cassidy interviewed that student and had another name before all the buses were gone.

I called that student at home and told him it was in his best interest to get back to the school immediately. Mr. Cassidy did the same with another student. Finally, the third student was revealed and he answered my call at a friend’s house to get back to school immediately. All three students came back to school and admitted what they’d done wrong. The matter was resolved with the police. In this type of incident, school consequences include five days OSS with loss of participation in commencement exercises. Monday’s picnic is the least of their worries.

Because of the relationships we’ve built with students, those who reported what they knew and those who’d made a mistake, we had the whole thing resolved within two hours. I’m proud of that fact. I’m also happy about  the teamwork our faculty and staff exhibited.

I know there are schools where no one would tell the administration anything. I’m really proud that we’re not one of them. I’m also proud that ultimately our kids know the difference between right and wrong and they step up to answer for their mistakes.

And while I love our students and will fight to do what’s right for them, I will also support strong consequences when they mess up, especially when the action endangers the health and safety of others in the building.That’s good parenting and it’s also good administration.