Student suspended for tricking rival fans into insulting themselves

[snopes]

A student who tricked football fans from a crosstown rival into holding up signs that together spelled out "We Suck" was suspended for the prank.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/art...nk0830-ON.html

Bandow gave Garchar three days of in-school suspension and banned him from extracurricular activities for a semester, the students said. Two Darby students who helped Garchar received the same punishment after the principals from both schools spoke by phone.

Sounds like he got off quite easy.

That was a good idea.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

...and he probably has an automatic scholarship to Cal Tech.

[lord_feldon]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

Sounds like he got off quite easy.

That was a good idea.

That's probably the harshest punishment allowed at the school for a first offense (other than criminal activity) at an athletic event.

[chillas]

Wow. What a needlessly harsh punishment.

[Lainie]

I thought it was a great prank. I agree with Chillas that the punishment is needlessly harsh for a prank that involved no property damage and no disruption to education.

But if I'd pulled that off, I'd consider it worth it.

[Troberg]

Bah, at our friendly interschool matches, we had two schools chanting stuff like "Kill those f*ckers!", "We'll get you after the game!" and similar cheerful encouragements. Any wonder I don't care about sports, except for professional wrestling?

This prank is just good, clean fun.

[MrsLottoTx]

I was hoping someone had posted the video (because I'm usually too lazy to search for it myself) but since no one has, I will.

Mrs.

[Syllavus]

Suspended? Aww c'mon, it was a joke that hurt no one, I can't understand the harshness of the punishment. I think the kid was quite clever to have pulled it off.

Originally Posted by lord_feldon

That's probably the harshest punishment allowed at the school for a first offense (other than criminal activity) at an athletic event.

Originally Posted by chillas

Wow. What a needlessly harsh punishment.

Knowing how school officials think (been dealing with them for a while), that is NOT a harsh punishment. They could have (and many would have) kicked him out of school.

I thought they showed remarkable restraint. I know that there were people calling for the kid's permanent suspension.

I mean they kick out kids who draw guns in school...

Okay. maybe from a "real world" view, that was harsh, but from the view of a school official (the rules are the rules are the rules and must be enforced at all costs...), this was a light slap on the wrist.

And no (at least in our schools), that is not the harshest punishment that can be given for a first offense.

[forcadragons]

It doesn't say whether the tricked side were the home team or the visitors. If they were the visitors, shouldn't they be suspicious? If they were the home team, could he have done it without his conspirators?

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by forcadragons

It doesn't say whether the tricked side were the home team or the visitors. If they were the visitors, shouldn't they be suspicious? If they were the home team, could he have done it without his conspirators?

According to the local paper, he put notes on the cards, signed by a fictitious booster organization of the rival school.

[Wild Redhead]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

Knowing how school officials think (been dealing with them for a while), that is NOT a harsh punishment. They could have (and many would have) kicked him out of school.

I thought they showed remarkable restraint. I know that there were people calling for the kid's permanent suspension.

I mean they kick out kids who draw guns in school...

Okay. maybe from a "real world" view, that was harsh, but from the view of a school official (the rules are the rules are the rules and must be enforced at all costs...), this was a light slap on the wrist.

And no (at least in our schools), that is not the harshest punishment that can be given for a first offense.

This isn't directed at you Doug4.7, I used your quote to complain about schools these days.

Kids work harder in school now than they ever have. They go to school all day and do homework all night and most of the weekend. Parents in turn spend most of their time assisting their young students with their school work. Students need to be able to let off steam somewhere. This was a very funny, non-violent, light hearted prank. I can see punishments for threats of violence, knives, guns, and bullying. But when exactly did the school system lose their sense of humor and become a communist state?
First I read where a school district have two teenage boys arrested for sexual assualt when they were just being stupid, now this one hands out punishments for a silly prank. I'm sorry, but if I was a student at the school where this punishment was handed out I would stage a sit in protest until the officials found a sense of humor and had a seat.

Originally Posted by Lainie

According to the local paper, he put notes on the cards, signed by a fictitious booster organization of the rival school.

Oh that is good. A well done, well thought out prank .

Such original thought and creativity must be stifled at all costs....

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by Lainie

I thought it was a great prank. I agree with Chillas that the punishment is needlessly harsh for a prank that involved no property damage and no disruption to education.

But if I'd pulled that off, I'd consider it worth it.

I agree as well, there is no need for punishment. It was a harmless prank.

Originally Posted by Wild Redhead

This isn't directed at you Doug4.7, I used your quote to complain about schools these days.

No problem. I'm not sure if folks can tell, but I thought what he did showed some very well thought out planning and intelligence. Just the type of stuff that is usually stifled in primary schools.

Now on to comments about your comments...

Kids work harder in school now than they ever have. They go to school all day and do homework all night and most of the weekend. Parents in turn spend most of their time assisting their young students with their school work. Students need to be able to let off steam somewhere. This was a very funny, non-violent, light hearted prank. I can see punishments for threats of violence, knives, guns, and bullying. But when exactly did the school system lose their sense of humor and become a communist state?

They are not a communist state, but their sense of humor was beaten out of them by the parents. Again, from my experience, teachers with humor usually get attacked by parents who do not have such a sense. After a while, teachers learn that to not "get in trouble", they have to be more like robots. When they really learn that lesson, they become administrators.

What the kid did was "wrong" as in pranks like that can get out of control fast. He "needed" to be punished to discourage other copy-cat pranksters (who might not be so intelligent, i.e.', setting the stadium on fire...). From what I can tell, his "punishment" really creates no lasting damage to his school record. I'm not sure what it means there, but here, "in school suspension" means a day of doing your work in a more isolated area of the school. You get your assignments from your teachers, and you do your work under the "supervision" of a teacher almost one-on-one. From what my kids say, it allows you to get more work done because there are fewer distractions. A one semester ban on activities will not scar him. Maybe he can use that extra time to apply to colleges that might find his intelligence a positive thing.

Bottom line was, the punishment sounds bad, but really isn't. They didn't kick him out of school, they didn't send him to "alternative" school, and they didn't take away any grades he got.

I'm sorry, but if I was a student at the school where this punishment was handed out I would stage a sit in protest until the officials found a sense of humor and had a seat.

And you would be kicked out of school for no reason (they would not change their policy). Now if you could get a set of parents to "talk" to the administration, THAT would get results.

I feel there is a time and a place for protests and high school is mostly not one of them. As a student, I feel it is better to just put up with most of the crap and move on. It is only 4 years of your long life. They can do more damage to your future than they are worth. As a student, you have almost no power and a lot to lose from fighting "the power". As a parent, OTOH, you have lots of power, and very little to lose from fighting the school.

So I tell my kids to "put up" with most of the crap, but tell me about it and I will "talk" to the appropriate authority.

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

I thought they showed remarkable restraint. I know that there were people calling for the kid's permanent suspension.

I mean they kick out kids who draw guns in school.

Are you seriously equating these kids and their prank to those who bring guns to school? Do you have no sense of proportion?

Pogue

[Chloe]

Excuse me one moment: POGUE!!!! Where the heck ya been?

Oh, and I think Doug meant "draw" as in "draw a picture of."

[Hapax Legomena]

Originally Posted by Pogue Mahone

Are you seriously equating these kids and their prank to those who bring guns to school? Do you have no sense of proportion?

Pogue

As Chloe said, I also think he meant "draw" in the sense of drawing a picture.

From what I've read elsewhere, the "punishment" was more for show than anything else--he's supposed to be graduating early anyway and going off to college as planned. It was a harmless prank, but it still needed the appearance of disapproval from the school, even while they're secretly laughing about it...that's what makes these kinds of things truly classic.

You must punish these sort of pranks because they always escalate. If they stayed at this "innocent" level (i.e., no property damage or anyone hurt), then it would be great. However, not all kids will keep it "innocent". If this sort of thing is left unchecked, soon you will have (at least) drive-by vandalism of the schools.

Now maybe kids are different today, and any retaliatory pranks will stay in the "no harm done" region, but I doubt it.