For those of us older folks, we recall senior prank day fondly. It was a long-standing tradition and right of passage for senior high school students to pull various pranks shortly before graduating to move on begin their lives. I can’t speak for everyone, but it was always my experience the ‘guilty’ party would then clean up after themselves and we all lived.
A Texas high school is facing backlash after administrators suspended half of the graduating class for pranks that included sticking plastic forks in the practice field’s dirt.
According to People, Approximately 40 seniors at Comfort High School, about 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, received two-week in-school suspensions for a prank that involved placing plastic forks throughout the football field.
“It was a harmless senior prank that all of us parents knew 100 percent what was going on,” Hope Jay, who has two seniors at Comfort, told the outlet. “They had planned as a group, you know, 40 students, which is half the senior class… to fork the field, which is putting plastic forks in the dirt.”
Journalist Morgan Burrell followed the story and blasted the school’s overreaction to harmless pranks, “Half the senior class at Comfort High School has been suspended after participating in a senior prank last week. The extent of the damage?”
SUSPENDED❗️ Half the senior class at Comfort High School has been suspended after participating in a senior prank last week. The extent of the damage? See the pictures below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OrDHmPfxE8
— Morgan Burrell (@Morgan_Burrell) May 20, 2021
Burrell wrote, “I just caught up with several students’ parents who tell me the plan was to stick forks in the practice field and then go home. While some students did just that, others went into the high school and left behind streamers, balloons and rearranged some things.”Adding in a separate tweet, “Parents say the district is treating all the students with the same punishment: in-school suspension, senior privileges have been taken away & some students fear they may lose the honors they are supposed to graduate with.”
“Among the students in trouble are the valedictorian, salutatorian and others in the top 10% of the class,” Burrell wrote. “I made several calls & just stopped by district headquarters to try and talk to Comfort Superintendent Tanya Monroe. Her first question to me was, “Are you recording?” Burrell noted.
“Comfort High School Principal Darren Williams also had no comment because this is a “student disciplinary matter”, the journalist noted.
Parents of students in trouble believe the punishment is unfair. “WE’RE SO FORKING PROUD” reads this sign outside Comfort Liquors. The owner of the liquor store is Shannon Tonroy. Her daughter is the valedictorian of the class of 2021…she’s one of the students in ISS. pic.twitter.com/KjowvHAGyg
— Morgan Burrell (@Morgan_Burrell) May 20, 2021
In a separate post, Burrell wrote, “Parents of students in trouble believe the punishment is unfair. “WE’RE SO FORKING PROUD” reads this sign outside Comfort Liquors. The owner of the liquor store is Shannon Conroy. Her daughter is the valedictorian of the class of 2021…she’s one of the students in ISS.”