Somebody Give This High Schooler An Award For Her (Fake) Harvard Rejection Letter
by Ryan Grenoble
Huffington Post
March 6, 2015

The “Harvard rejection letter” that went viral earlier this week? Yeah, it’s fake. But you should still read it.

Molly McGaan, the letter’s author and a student at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, wrote the cheeky piece of satire for her school’s humor publication, “Citizen Poke,” and it viral — for obvious, hilarious reasons:

Read more about this here.

In the last two weeks, the Purge hoax has gone viral, causing alarm in numerous cities… again.

In July, 2014, after the premiere of The Purge 2 Anarchy (the sequel to The Purge, a sleeper hit movie in which for 12 hours all crime is legal without consequence), a humor website CreamBMP.com reported that “a group of teenagers re-enacting the plot of the film The Purge 2 in Chicago murdered over 112 people”. Read Chicago ‘Purge’ Murders on Snopes.com.

Then last week, a Louisville high school student tweeted what he thought was a joke: “Whos (sic) trying to get a Louisville Purge Started With Me?” and all hell broke loose. See this article posted by the Crimson Student Press detailing the story: Teen responsible for “Purge” hoax speaks up.

From there, both panic and humor have hit cities all over the country. See Additional Purge Warnings on Snopes.com.

(more…)

From Huffington Post, May 15, 2014: High School ‘Vagina Inspection’ prank letter sent to families. Police investigate

A prank letter ordering students to attend a “mandatory vagina inspection” in the gym of a Minnesota high school has administrators — and police — looking for who’s behind it.

The letter (see below), written on official-looking letterhead for Prior Lake High School in Savage, Minnesota, was hand-delivered to the mailboxes of at least 50 families, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.

Watch the ABC Channel 5 news video:

Senior pranks _ where do you draw the line?
by Martha Irvine
AP News
June 6, 2012

Chicago (AP) – Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to stash a dead fish somewhere to stink up the school hallways. Time to drop tennis balls on the heads of people in the lobby. Time to cover your soon-to-be alma mater with Post-It notes.

For high school seniors, it’s prank time – or “structured mayhem” in the words of Mindy Utay, a therapist who works with teens.

It’s a rite of passage as graduation looms, mostly harmless fun but sometimes a escalating into vandalism. This spring alone, windows at school have been smashed, walls and sidewalks spray painted, and paint poured down steps. Cars have been flipped. Property has been damaged from California to Kentucky to Maryland.

As a result, school administrators are rethinking exactly what constitutes a prank and where to draw the line – and finding that’s not always easy to do.

[Read on and watch Brigham Young University pranksters turn their friends’ living room into an Easter basket] (more…)

Miami’s New Piano Bar…

Teen places a burnt-out piano on a sandbar in Miami and lays low. Filmmakers come along and take full credit for it. Teen, realizing other people will get the credit, steps forward, but wishes people wouldn’t think of it as a prank. Says it’s art and he did it for a college application. So he committed a felony (dumping rubbish in the bay) to help his chances of getting into a prestigious university. And his parents were complicit. Lucky for him, the Miami authorities don’t seem to want to press charges. So, unless he removes it, the piano’s next incarnation will be as a reef. All well and good, but through all of this, no one says anything about the dolphin swimming across the bottom of this photograph by Karla Murray?

Here’s an interview with Nicholas Harrington, 16, on NBC’s Today Show:

View more photos here.

Related links:

Goofiness Before Graduation: High-school seniors love pranks, but principals aren’t smiling
by Jane Hawes
The Columbus Dispatch
April 23, 2010

If there’s a naked kid with a Nerf gun in your front yard, chances are you live near an Olentangy high-school senior.

It’s that perilous time of year leading up to high-school graduation, but fear not. There are rules that even those in the grip of “senioritis” will obey.

“There’s no shooting when someone’s on the clock at work, or on school property at any time, or at church,” said Olentangy Liberty High School senior Joe Kon. “And you can’t get shot if you’re naked.” (more…)

Hole Diggers Attempt to Sabotage New Jersey Graduation
1010 WINS
June 19, 2009

Linwood, N.J. (AP) — In recent years, the graduation ceremony at Mainland Regional High School in Linwood has seen some awkward moments.

In 2006 and 2008, school administrators cut off the microphone when students used their speeches to criticize the school.

On Friday, the school discovered that vandals dug about 25 holes in the football field where graduates were to gather in the evening, then covered them with sod. Principal Robert Blake says a student stepping into one could have injured an ankle or knee.

Blake says an investigation is under way to find out who did it and see that they’re prosecuted.

Custodians filled in the holes by midmorning and seniors held their graduation rehearsal without incident.

image: Silver Bear Cafe

Senior pranks aren’t what they used to be
by Laurel Walker
jsonline.com
June 9, 2009

Oh, for the good ol’ days – when senior pranks were really clever and memorable, and when school administrators had the audacity to admire the good ones.

For all the hubbub those so-called pranks at Arrowhead and Brookfield East high schools produced last weekend – with different outcomes – I couldn’t help but long for a jaw-dropping, “how’d they ever do that?” caper. Harmlessness, above all else, must be a condition of the truly good prank, as should anonymity.

One of the best I remember was in June 1997 at Brookfield East High School, when someone managed to hoist a Pontiac 6000 overhead and parked it atop the school’s steel entry canopy. Among the worst, also at Brookfield East in 2004, students without an ounce of creativity thought an all-out food fight and dumping human feces on the floor made for a fine senior moment.

By comparison, the stunts that got the Waukesha County students in trouble last week were harmless enough, tame if not lame. (more…)

Stiff punishment “not being allowed to walk during graduation.” They’d better put that car back together so at least they can drive…

Senior Prank
Bits & Pieces.com
May 2, 2009

Students at a Western Colorado High School arrived Thursday morning to find a car wrapped around the school”™s flag pole.

The car was cut in half and welded around the bottom of the flag pole, as a senior prank.

School officials say it”™s pretty creative, but are asking students to use their best judgment when attempting a prank.

“We don”™t want anything malicious, we don”™t want anything that singles out a person or our school in a negative way. We don”™t want anything that does permanent damage,” said Jody Mimmack, school principal.

Officials say the students responsible for the prank could face punishment, including not being allowed to walk during their graduation ceremony.

Submitted by John Lundberg of circlemakers.org, England’s crop circle makers, as found on LiveLeak.com:

Desks On Roof? Cypress Creek Students Pull Prank
Central Florida News 13
April 22, 2009

Orange County — It”™s almost the end of the school year, and for some high school students, that means it”™s senior prank time. Approximately 100 school desks, chairs and tables appeared on top of 40 portables at Cypress Creek High School overnight Tuesday. Investigators said it likely took the pranksters some time to do what they did. While some students found it funny, parents and school administrators weren”™t laughing. The school is no stranger to pranks. In past years, we’re told farm animals were let loose on the campus. The school is vowing to punish those found responsible.

Bernie Madoff”™s Palm Beach House Gets Toilet Papered
by Emily Friedlander
Blogs.WSJ.com
January 26, 2009

Covering a neighbor”™s house in toilet paper is a time honored suburban prank “” typically used to up the stakes in a high-school rivalry or perhaps as a Halloween “trick.” Now the teens of Palm Beach, Fla., have found another reason to toss the Charmin “” losing their trust funds.

The Palm Beach Post reported Monday that the tree in front of Bernard Madoff”™s Palm Beach home has been covered in toilet paper. Teenage boys claimed credit for the prank, according to the Post, saying they lost their trust funds in the Madoff scandal.

His Palm Beach home, which sits empty while Mr. Madoff is confined to his Park Avenue pad in Manhattan, is proving to be a tempting target for area pranksters: Just last month, the Palm Beach Post reports, someone swiped a $10,000 piece of bronze yard art from the property only to return it with a note: “Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return Stolen Property to rightful owners. Signed by – The Educators.”

From Gizmodo, December 22, 2008:

How to Use Speed Cameras to Bury Your Enemies in Speeding Tickets

I think that speed cameras are the devil’s technology that impugn our basic human rights, but Maryland high school students show how they can be used for fun and profit revenge.

Basically, students from Richard Montgomery High School are copying the license plate numbers of their “enemies” (’cause high schoolers lead such vicious, angsty lives) on glossy photo paper in a font that looks just like the one Maryland uses for its license plates. They tape the crappy fake license over their own, and intentionally zip past a stupid speedtrap camera, and a couple days later, their victim receives a ticket in the mail. The really clever little bastards are borrowing cars that are the same model as the one their victim owns.

This should pretty much seal the deal on how speeding cameras are. I mean, the whole program is being effortlessly de-constructed and re-purposed by high school geniuses who call their prank speed camera “pimping.” And this is the future of public safety? Right. [The Sentinel via Slashdot]

Conn. Senior Prank/Protest Ends with Two Arrests
1010WINS
June 7, 2008

Westport, Conn. — Authorities apparently didn’t find a Connecticut high school student’s senior prank very amusing.

Sarah Friedson of Westport rode her sister’s pony to school Friday morning as both a prank and to protest the high price of gas, the 17-year-old said.

She hung a sign on the horse that read “Ride on ’08” and “Save Gas $.”

When she arrived on school property, accompanied by her father, Ronald who was trailing behind in his car, school officials told her police was on the way.

In the end, two arrests were made and Sarah was suspended and could miss finals, her prom and the senior class trip to the Six Flags amusement park in Agawam, Mass.

Ronald told the Connecticut Post he believes the treatment they received was revenge for previous conflicts he’s had with the Westport School District.

Both Sarah and her father are due in court next week, police said.

photo: HorseRetreats.com

Prank’s result not so funny
The Shelby News
May 17, 2008

MHS seniors arrested after alleged criminal mischief against teacher

Five Morristown High School seniors are being charged with criminal mischief and trespassing that allegedly occurred nearly two months ago at the Shelbyville home of one of their teachers.

According to police arrest reports, Robert D. Hart, Kodie D. Jenkins, Christopher L. Meador, Gregory P. Schmith II and Matthew R. Worton, all age 18 with Morristown addresses, were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon.

Four of the students were arrested at the high school, and a fifth was taken into custody at Blue River Career Center. A police van was used to pick up the students at the schools and transport them to jail.

They were taken to the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center and booked on charges of criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors, and released after posting $100 bonds.

The student arrests were a result of a “yard forking” incident that allegedly took place late in the evening of March 20. According to local law enforcement authorities, yard forking is a prank in which hundreds of plastic forks are stuck into a victim’s yard, handles down and tines sticking up. Sometimes they are broken off at ground level, leaving the sharp, pointed and jagged handles barely sticking out of the ground. The prank involves watching the victim perform the tedious chore of removing them from the ground. (more…)

Saranac Lake gets “˜flamingoed”™
by Lou Reuter, Enterprise Staff Writer
Adirondack Daily Enterprise
January 19, 2008

Saranac Lake “” Many birds flock to warmer climates when the snow begins to fly. But this winter, a certain avian species has been appearing in yards at homes and businesses around the community.

The birds are plastic pink flamingos, and 40 of them will be sticking around Saranac Lake until the snow melts away. The flamingos are actually being used in a fundraising effort for the Saranac Lake High School Art Club, which has planned a trip to Hollywood, Calif. during the first week of March. (more…)