Read & React

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School pranks


The once-harmless high school prank that would make adults smile is devolving into criminal activity. In the last week, it has kept kids out of classes and canceled school trips and senior picnics. Perpetrators could face felony charges. Read story.

Why have kids gone too far with these end of school year pranks?

Categories: General
Michael Huber

112 Responses

  1. Ed Tourge says:

    In Albany, the administration and board of education refuse to do anything to punish these thugs, so they know nothing will happen to them.

  2. Rebecca says:

    It’s not a “prank” when it costs money to clean it up. The ones that are caught doing the prank should be made to work with the employees cleaning it up. Then, of course, they or their parents should be made to pay for damages. Taxpayers should not have to pay for the results of pranks.

  3. Mike says:

    Real simple. Two words: NO DISCIPLINE.

  4. JW Garvey says:


    Kids have not gone too far, all this talk about how harmless pranks use to be is not necessarily true.

    I can recall sneaking into my school on a Sunday before graduation and unleashing chickens to roam the halls with plenty of feed and I will never forget the look on the face of the principal and superintendent when they saw how much feces those chickens left to be clean up on Monday. PRICELESS

    So once again…BRAVO….BRAVO….Life is about memories!!

  5. letthelightshinein says:

    What happened at the bus garage is just a culmination of years of lax discipline in the schools ( and at home) today. When you have children brought up in an environment of no or minimal consequences for poor behavior, what do you expect?

    In schools today, we refuse to stand up and say ENOUGH!! when students misbehave and we are surprised when these thing happen? When the students get ” frisky” we close the schools ( THANK YOU TO THE SUPPOSED EDUCATION EXPERTS AT ALBANY FOR GIVING IN TO THE MISCREANTS- just can’t wait until next year!!)

    Today we live in a society where deviant behavior is glorified – Jackass, Grand Theft Auto, gangsta rap, you name it… and kids are allowed to revel in it, so should it be surprising that their “pranks” get out of control?

    Unless these criminals who vandalized the buses are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law , can we expect any change? Yes, the “child-centered” educators will claim “it was an isolated incident” and we must be “tolerant” and understanding, but until we START standing up and saying that we will not tolerate this b.s. anymore, will anything change? No.. it will only get worse.

  6. Pete says:

    I don’t think it’s the prank that’s become out-of-hand, but rather the reaction on the part of school officials. You no longer see the image of the school Principal standing in the lobby waving his fist while shouting “You meddling kids!” or something like that, the images is now of the pranksters being led out in handcuffs. Parents are just worried about somebody harming their precious little snowflake by staging a pillow fight while they’re at school, so the pressure is now on administrators to kill any remaining remnants of joy in the educational system.

    Lighten up, people.

  7. DBink says:

    If more parents were held responsible for ALL that their kids do, they would keep them under control. Of course, the government has invaded their homes and told them they can’t discipline their children without fear of jail. So, who is at fault???? Parents or government? Catch 22 sounds like to me.

  8. x-LIER says:

    How about BCSD HS? They spray painted the new brick facade of the building as well. These kids have clearly gone too far.

  9. Eric says:

    I’m sure the residents of Colonie (already facing the millions of debt) won’t mind paying the $10,000 cost for the buses……..afterall it will be passed on to the residents.

  10. pjduff says:

    Just curious….have attending high school seniors been arrested for this prank/vandalism? Why is everyone so quick to assume that this was a senior high school prank and not just an unbelievable act of vandalism?

  11. sgtwarbucks says:

    The pranks will end when schools get serious and hold these students/vandals to task.

    Don’t let them graduate, let them transfer to the Albany County Jail. That will be a lesson they’ll never forget!

    Outside of a school this would be damage to property, and people would be held accountable. Because it happens on a school, and it happens toward the end of the year, it’s a “prank”. These pranksters should be held accountable, with fines and jail times.

  12. jakester says:

    The urge to out do all the other pranks and be the big tough guy…
    plus with the acceptance of the “anything goes” attitude society has (ie) grand theft auto, etc… it’s no wonder pranks are becoming worse and more destructive.

  13. Joan Anne says:

    These are not vandals. These are our kids. We used to have riots in the public schools when I was a kid so dont tell me things are worse. Did the police care back then? No. Did teachers care? No. School was closed and everyone went home. Students are much better today. All the pressure kids face today its no wonder to me that they are acting out.

    That said, in my day, people took responsibility for their actions. But they were not hauled like criminals to court.

  14. Kelly says:

    Kids are starting to go pretty far with the pranks but its not like they invented it. The reason the smoke stack was removed from Guilderland High School was because it got spray painted every year. I remember seeing the damage back in the ’70s. The reason its getting out of hand is because they always have to one up the last years prank. Its always the same……..few ruin it for many.

  15. bob says:

    i dont think kids are going to far with the end of the year pranks i think it is funny!

  16. lizzee says:

    They have gone too far because they can! Clearly, every school district in the country knows that buses are an easy target this time of year and every year in this area we have stories of vandalism so why aren’t safeguards put in place? It seems to be interesting that those private carriers do not have the problems that the districts do with vandalism. Perhaps someone in district offices should contact a private owner and see what they do to prevent the vandalism?

  17. RAE says:

    All things considered, this prank could have been much worse. As far as anyone can tell, no real damage was done. The buses were cleaned, they are all still functional, we can all get on with our lives.

    But now these kids, one of them homeless, are going to get the book thrown at them because well, our society has absolutely no sense of humor for things like this, especially now in our post-9/11 climate. While we still have real criminals on the streets committing murders, our attentions are turned to these two scapegoats, who’s actions really amounted to nothing but a day of cancelled classes, and hurt nobody.

  18. Tracy says:

    In response to the person that said “these are our kids.” They aren’t my kids because mine know better! The excuses from parents are the reason the kids act this way. Kids need to be better supervised. Not to mention that these “kids” screwed the rest of our kids out of their field days and their Senior picnic which is a once in a lifetime event that they will never get back. There is nothing funny about Vandalism!!!!

  19. accountable says:

    To those of you who think of this as a prank, not vandelism, how would you like it if it happened to your home or your vehicle. Hold the kids accountable!

  20. can says:

    These kids should spend the summer cleaning buses, walls, hallways…what sense of humor when some of these actions cause thousands of dollars in damage and someone else needs to clean up the mess. What ever happened to respect for others and personal responsibility? Would it be so funny if this was done to your car and/or home and you had to foot the bill? Hand them each a tooth brush and get scrubbing!

  21. RMAH says:

    Spare me! I graduated HS in 1992 and kids were nothing like they are today. I’m tired of hearing parents say “don’t do this or I’ll..” and they never follow through when the kids misbehave. And this starts at a very young age. The lack of discipline is pathetic! My parents brought me up to be respectful of things and people, and to appreciate what you have. I have never lost slight of that. Kids are spoiled. We never grew up having a cell phone by the age of 9 or how about having multiple video games and sitting in front of a television for hours on end. What happened to playing outside? Luxuries have been taken for granted by adults and it’s been passed to their kids. It’s no wonder why most American’s don’t have anything in their savings accounts. Stop spoiling your kids.

  22. noneya says:

    The main issue is that people in general are over reaching limitations. No matter if it was a prank, it went too far, these students simply went too far. They had absolutely no thought process to distinguish between a prank and a senseless act of felony vandalism, were they on drugs? Do they simply just not have enough discipline in their lives? It is a shame that a great school district like South Colonie has students like this, and is exactly why the district should press charges to the fullest extent of the law.

    It is disgusting that people will post on this blog that it was a funny prank or even stick up for this felons in any way, shape or form. Whats next?

    The parents really need to take on some of the responsibility. Especially for the seventeen year-old. Out past curfew, come on, where are the parents? Do you set rules for your children? Where is the control outside of school? And the eighteen year old who claims to be homeless? Again, where are the parents, that is neglect on their part. Something needs to be done.

    And for the person who claims that their school had riots “back in her day,” I have a question. Did you actually feel safe at school? Does an act of vandalism to school buses really speak out on an issue the way protests used to? No, vandalism is illegal and against the law. I have news for you, we are in a time where riots are out-dated because of the violence they used to cause. Should students be using violence in any way? Absolutly not! Riots and protests had one goal, to get a message accross. What is the message here? These students caused thousands of tax-payer dollars in damage and it’s supposed to be some form of a prank? Are you serious? Are you a tax-payer and sticking up for these criminals? I do feel bad for the kids who did this because their lungs are probably shot from breathing in the chemicals that shout out of the fire extinguishers, heck, maybe they deserve it.

  23. Rocky Balboa says:

    Yo posters! This is Rocky Balboa. Do ya remember the movies: Children of the Damned and Village of the Damned? What’s my point: the bad kids have taken over. Albany High School cancelled 2 days of classes (Friday and Monday) because of the thugs. It is outta control. I worked at AHS for 32 years. I saw the negative results of not discipling a few bad students. It is a mess. I retired because it was no longer a reputable high school. It was a detention center for thugs.

  24. Katlyn says:

    I think some of the pranks that kids do these days are a little out of hand, and I’m saying this as a high school student myself. Senior pranks don’t happen everywhere, my senior class didn’t! But I don’t think the blame for this criminal mischief can be put on movies and TV shows. I, myself am an avid fan of the Jackass franchise but I know well enough that I cannot go around recreating the stunts Bam Margera and Johnny Knoxville do. I honestly believe that the blame should fall back on the parents. Why? Because in this day in age parents send their kids to school with no respect for authority or even knowing right from wrong. The parents expect the teachers to do it. That’s not their job. But really now, the only way for kids to stop such extreme pranks is if the parents start to take the blame and actually parent thier children.

  25. Wake up world. We need the government, the families and the educational system to all pull together and get back to the basics of teaching the children about respect, integrity and right and wrong.
    Let’s stop trying to blame someone else and put the energy back into the younger generation. Let’s stop getting glory from picking on someone else and lend a helping hand instead. As adults, we are creating these problems becasue we don’t want to take the time to teach our children and allow the government and school systems to do their jobs which should be an extension of what we teach them.

  26. Sapientia says:

    I agree with the comment by Pete. If school administrators lightened up a bit about the HARMLESS pranks, then students wouldn’t resort to criminal activity to get a good laugh. Something as innocent as a pillow fight shouldn’t have been ended …. what harm could that have caused? Lice? Get real.

    Things have gotten out of control as far as student’s disregard for the law and lack of respect for their own school property, but I think the effect of this would be lessened if they weren’t punished for taking part in something as harmless as a pillow fight or say, releasing a thousand of so crickets inside Shenendehowa. That was a good one. Beachballs in the hallway, classrooms full of balloons, or toilet papered hallways should be laughed at, not another reason to blame these so called “thugs” of today’s youth for having a sense of humor about graduating.

    Lighten up.

  27. Iceman says:

    Releasing rats in the school is almost funny as is the chicken story of a previous poster. The kids should know that they will be cleaning up after any mess. Pillowfights seem harmless also.
    The spray painting and fire extinguisher issues are serious and demand action by authorities. Too much damage.

  28. none ya says:

    Hey, RAE, did it occur to you that the cleaning process cost over $100,000? Or how about the fact that the chemicals in the extinguishers are very harmful if inhaled? Do you have any clue the extent of damage that occured to the bus. Try this out, spray your vehicle with a fire extinguisher and see if it is ever the same. I promise you it won’t be. Does this amount to nothing but canceled classes and dirty buses? Maybe I haven’t convinced you yet…but there are hundreds of seniors who showed up that morning hoping to have their breakfast and watch the slide show, but two kids out of hundreds ruined it for them by making a bad choice. Students need to know that you must THINK your actions over because their are consequences for bad decisions. These two students need to face the consequences for their poor decision making and bad choices. Plus, I’m sure these kids are “bad kids” and not your average star student who is college bound. In other words, I wouldn’t be surprised if these kids had previous records of some sort.

  29. jakester says:

    We never had senior pranks when I was in school, we did have senior butt day. But now the kids butt all the time and just don’t go period.
    Whoever did it should have to perform some community service or work to pay it off…

  30. John says:

    Rocky (post #23), I am so glad to hear that someone who “dedicated” 32 years of their life to working with students in the Albany City School District is referring to the students as “thugs.” If you truly feel that way, my opinion is the district is better off without you.

    Also, I was curious why when it is Albany High School it is “these thugs” or “the school is out of control.” But when it is a suburban district, it is “a select few students and their senior pranks.” I hate to break it to everyone but all schools have issues.

    What it comes down to is any students involved in these incidents (no matter the school) thought what they were doing was “funny” and went way over the line. They were not thinking, “I may face felony charges because of this and if convicted, I will have to answer ‘Yes’ on job applications to: ‘Have you ever been convicted of a felony?’”