Senior pranks were fun, not crimes. Retro Charlotte looks back on past pranks.

Children nowadays.

Weeks away from high school grads throwing off their caps, some are littering every square inch of their school’s hallways — or throwing their futures out the window.

The high-profile pranks, officials say, have gotten out of control. They no longer bring smiles and laughter. They bring tears and thousands of dollars in damages.

Last weekend, students blinded three local high schools with “pranks” that were really just vandalism, officials said. In one case, at Mallard Creek High, 50 students were charged.

It wasn’t always like that.

Senior pranksters gained something of a reputation in 1971, according to a January article about a senior science project briefly mistaken for a prank.

But their stunts apparently didn’t make headlines until the teens of the early 2000s arrived. They knew how to ruffle some feathers – and soak some directors – but never faced accusations. criminals, according to newspaper records.

According to a News & Observer article, the Great Water Balloon Fight of 2007 left the reigning vice principal at Northwood High School in Pittsboro soaked from a balloon explosion. Students were hit with 20 hours of community service and administrators threatened to hold degrees until the hours were clocked.

Northwood High School seniors and other underclassmen who hijacked their prank, timed their vice principal with a water balloon on Monday, June 4, 2007.

Northwood High School seniors and other underclassmen who hijacked their prank, timed their vice principal with a water balloon on Monday, June 4, 2007.

Rival elderly were the alleged culprits in the 2005 Rock Hill case of the disappearance of the ‘giant weenie’ and the giant pig.

Rock Hill High School seniors stole the giant pig statue from Bucko’s restaurant, the sheriff and principal said. According to a 2005 article, their prank was also accompanied by super-glued locks, slicked sidewalks, and strewn fish heads and intestines.

Ebenezer Grill’s giant hot dog sign has not been found, despite owner’s plea and reward: a ‘limousine ride and picnic for two at Lando Beach’ in Chester County , in South Carolina, to all those who “confessed”.

Hickory High School’s Class of 2001 has come closest to the level of destruction seniors have recently reaped in their schools. About 50 students swarmed the building, decorating it with toilet paper and construction waste, police said. They did not, however, face charges.

Hickory High School seniors piped the school with discarded eggs, discarded toilet paper and strewn trash on Friday, May 18, 2001.

Hickory High School seniors piped the school with discarded eggs, discarded toilet paper and strewn trash on Friday, May 18, 2001.

In 2009, Hilton Head seniors nearly got away with vandalism, and that wouldn’t have phased their principal – who said he’d seen worse. Police told them to clean up their artwork, which was water-soluble, according to an Island Packet report. The 30 students left it cleaner than when they found it, they told reporters at the time.

Bluffton High School seniors were caught doodling with water-soluble paint during their 2009 senior prank. Police and school officials had them clean up before the 7:30 a.m. bell on Friday, May 29, 2009.

Bluffton High School seniors were caught doodling with water-soluble paint during their 2009 senior prank. Police and school officials had them clean up before the 7:30 a.m. bell on Friday, May 29, 2009.

Just how bad have senior pranks gotten?

Children know what they’re doing is wrong, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Sgt. JD Williams. They must. They break in and destroy property that does not belong to them, he said.

“When I was in high school, they had a senior day where students could participate in agreed-upon activities involving water balloon fights and silly strings,” Williams said. “It does not cause any harm to the school or any potential injury to students.”

Police say two Monroe County men plotted a “senior prank” that left Sun Valley High School more than $20,000 in damages and jailed them on felony charges.

A Cleveland County principal appeared to trust the Burns High School seniors when she handed them the keys to the school Thursday night. Instead, students damaged teachers’ personal items, created safety hazards by spilling baby oil everywhere and left behind a mess that brought teachers to tears Friday morning. At the same school more than 10 years ago, a mid-year prank closed the Burns High School football field after a herd of goats left administrators to deal with E. Coli.

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