SHS principal gives pranksters a break
Published on June 5th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - SHS Principal Tom Ryan wouldn’t comment on a senior prank last week, but luckily for the kids who tried to set up a living room on the High School’s roof, Ryan isn’t going to punish them either.
Students and parents raised hell last week after hearing rumors that three students — whose cars were seen by Police in the area the night of the prank — were going to be kept from walking in the June 7 graduation ceremony.
“It’s not fair,” one anonymous female student said. “There’s going to be a protest today (Friday, May 31).” But when questioned she wasn’t sure if the protesters wanted more people punished or the first three let off the hook.
A letter warning students and parents about the ramifications of participating in “senior prank week,” was sent home before the prank. The final week of senior classes, which was last week, is a time notorious at Stoneham High and many American High Schools for things like lobsters in the hallways, shaving cream on the lockers and banners hung from the roof. Sometimes these pranks can get nasty or dangerous, so the schools warned students not to cross the line.
Although Ryan would not comment, the prank in question involved moving old junk furniture onto SHS property with the intent of setting up a mock room on the roof. Stoneham Police were keeping an eye on the school, and they chased the kids off before the work was complete.
According to one version of the events, no one was caught at the scene, and no one turned himself in, but Police had tagged several cars in the area, and the schools got those names.
At this point the debate over punishment began. Kids and parents had been warned. But in the end, due to the harmless nature of the prank, several parents hypothesized, the schools let the whole thing drop.
Other parents reported more serious damage, but these rumors could not be confirmed.
“No one has been eliminated from graduation thus far,” Ryan said, indicating that the Police and schools are still on the look out for more serious pranks, and ready to respond in kind.
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