Some bumps and bruises arise from senior prank
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Hillsborough High School seniors participated in a “flash mob” in school June 14, but the intended prank got out of hand and resulted in three students being hurt in the pushing and shoving.
The actions drew a strong rebuke from Principal Karen Bingert. In a letter to parents dated June 15 and posted on the school’s website, Ms. Bingert said the tradition of a “senior prank…came to a screeching halt” when students stopped in stairwells, doorways and critical junctions in hallways, not allowing underclassmen to get to the their next classes on time, she wrote.
Had the incident lasted for a moment or two, it would have been something the administration would have handled, she said.
”However, that was not the case,” she wrote. The students crushed together and pushed, creating crowd surges that resulted in minor cuts and bruises to three students.
”That is simply unacceptable,” she said.
The morning after the “flash mob” Ms. Bingert made an announcement to the entire student body about the consequences of misbehavior, she wrote parents.
”Just as the flash mob (which could have been perfectly appropriate) went awry, the same is true about food fights and other poor choices which, once started, tend to develop a mind of their own where reason and logic go out the window,” she wrote.
She said she told the students that the school will maintain discipline until after graduation; if a suspension is levied, a senior could jeopardize participation in graduation ceremonies, she said.
”Explain to your parents and grandparents how you chose to misbehave even when you knew this ahead of time. I’m sure they will be as happy with you as I am right now,” the principal wrote.
Students who do not serve assigned consequences won’t be given diplomas until they do, she wrote.
She warned underclassmen who may be thinking about “committing an ill-advised act in these final moments of the school year, let me assure you I am in no mood for it.” She said misbehavior could bring suspension before exams and force the pupil’s return to school in July to take them.
Ms. Bingert wrote parents “this is by far the hardest letter you have ever received from me, as I am the biggest cheerleader in the world for our students, their accomplishments and the many wonderful things that they do on a regular basis.”
But she encouraged parents of pupils in all grade levels to talk about the choices they make when they are seniors.