Should 16 Fuquay-Varina High School seniors be barred from their graduation ceremony on Sunday for their activities at the school?
As noted in today's article, the students say it was only a harmless prank when they hopped a school fence on Memorial Day and sprayed chocolate syrup and mustard on the walls of the courtyard and peanut butter on the door knobs. Another sprinkled forks and toiler paper all over the ground.
But Wake County school officials say it was vandalism and trespassing. They say the students also stuck feminine products on the walls, threw eggs and bologna on the walls, wrote profanity in chalk and drew phallic symbols on the walls of the courtyard.
"Their actions have consequences," said Michael Evans, Wake's chief communications officer.
Evans said that Principal Edward McFarland could have filed criminal charges instead of just barring the students from Sunday's graduation ceremony.
But Michael Mackey, 18, one of the seniors who has been barred from graduation, said he didn’t understand why it merited such a strong punishment. “It was just a little high school prank,” he said.
Mackey said those involved included student council members, including two who were supposed to speak at graduation.
The students signed a letter of apology and delivered it to McFarland. They proposed holding fundraisers to cover the cost of the cleanup in exchange for letting them walk at graduation.
Parents of the students have also talked about paying the cleanup costs or having the students do community service
But McFarland wouldn't bite.
“His only argument to us was ‘what about the class next year?’ ” said Elias Bender, 18, one of the seniors involved.
Bender said the students are showing they're remorseful over what they had done.
Comments
THEY ARE TEENAGE BOYS!
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 15:35 — momsopinionBarring these kids from their high school graduation is extreme! I am an advocate of taking responsibility for your actions and being punished in some way. Poor behavior deserves punishment; good behavior deserves reward.
Graduating high school is a reward for doing well in school. These boys were active in the student body and extra curricular activities. They should get their just reward for working hard and participating in school for the last four years.
Their participating in the "Senior Prank" WAS a prank! They are 16, 17 and 18 year old BOYS!!! What teenage boy wouldnt think tampons and phallic symbols were funny? It may be inappropriate, but it was meant to be funny not hurtful. According to a parent of one of the boys (in a conversation I overheard), teacher(s) were "wondering what the school prank was going to be this year." To a kid of this age, that could sound like an inviation, or like it was accepted and expected. If these boys are to be punished for this prank (which they should be), then let the punishment match the crime. You make a mess... YOU CLEAN! Make them help all of the teachers clean their classrooms for the summer, sanitize the bathrooms, mop the halls and classrooms, clean the busses. There are plenty of things that would work. Get something signed by the kids and the parents, if the cleaning does not take place then charges will be pressed: whatever they feel needs to be done to ensure punishment is fulfilled.
Assuming that someone is a bad parent because their child participated in something like this is absolutely absurd. If these parents were not involved in their child's life, he likely would not be graduating high school, he would not have been active in extra curricular activies, etc.
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Who are any of us, or the principal, to not show these KIDS some sort of compassion. Teach them 2 lessons... reward & compassion (allow them to graduate with their class after all of their hard work) and responsibility & consequence (require them to clean or volunteer within FVHS.)
LIFE IS FULL of both REWARD & CONSEQUENCE... now THAT would be a GREAT LIFE LESSON!
Even though the
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 18:01 — danofncEven though the circumstances are obviously different, I think this situation is similar to the teacher that had people talking trash about kids on her facebook page a year or so ago.
In that case, kids did rude things and then their parents got upset that the teacher talked about it on facebook. I didn't think the parents had any right to be upset with the teacher. You break in my house and I catch you, you don't get to complain about what happens to you.
This situation is the same. There is no way that these kids should have thought that what they were doing was simply a prank. When you pull a "senior prank", it should be something that wait around to see people react to, not something that you feel you have to keep a secret.
Instead of griping that they don't get to walk at graduation (which really does suck for them), they should be glad that they aren't facing a judge and having their college applications "evaluated", like Bob said.
I thought the district was wrong for suspending the teacher, and I think they are going relatively easy on these kids, compared to what could happen.
?
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 17:14 — Bob_SconceThey are teenage boys, teenage boys do stupid things, and this was a stupid thing. They're also graduating (even if they're not marching), so the school was a bit shy on options for what it can make them do. Schools only have jurisdiction over their students -- once they're gone, it's a lot harder to make them do anything, even with that agreement you think they'd sign.
In any case, thee proper way to do what you suggest would be to actually file charges, and have the Judge tell them "If you do X, Y and Z, we'll expunge the incident from your record." It seems to that this solution would be worse than not marching.
The principal could have filed a police report AND sent letters to the kids' colleges. It could have been a lot worse for them.
I think you want the school to continue to treat 18-year-olds like children. But, at this point, they're adults. It's better that they learn this lesson now.
Even in courts there are
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 11:55 — momsopinionEven in courts there are mitigating factors-- like the boys being good students, involved in the school and athletics... or clean driving records, letters from churches, etc. It should mean something that these boys are "good kids" that made a stupid decision. Having them clean and perform services for the school immediately following the incident would have made more sense.
It's a shame that these kids and their parents have made it through the past 13 years of school, and doing well-- and now they are missing such an important part of a teenager's life.
I hope these kids and their families at least show up to the graduation as guests and be involved as best as they can.
Filing charges is not the
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 11:30 — woodstockFiling charges is not the "proper way" in my view. Filing charges is a last resort, but too often the first thing too many folks jump to. Our legal system exists to address things we, as reasonable, compassionate people with common sense, cannot resolove on our own.
So...
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 15:02 — Bob_SconceI didn't say that it would have been the right decision. I was saying that if you wanted to require them to do some sort of community service, that it would have been the way to go about it. I think the principal handled it very well.
Don't ever run for DA--you
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 12:43 — DrActualFactualDon't ever run for DA--you seem really soft on crime.
I don't want government
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 13:22 — woodstockI don't want government involved in situations that private citizens should be able to deal with on their own... especially when it involves youth. That is exactly the kind of DA I'd want.
Agreed, these kids could
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 20:59 — CaryCurmudgeonAgreed, these kids could have been charged with vandalism. I think that would be going a little too far, but they got more than a fair shake from the principal. I still think the kids and/or their parents ought to be responsible for the cost of the cleanup.
Thanks Mom. Thanks Dad.
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 09:03 — ARationalMindHere is what the parents of these precious children fail to understand, and hence their children as well. These children are going to be entering the REAL WORLD shortly, where mommy and daddy won't be there to plead their case, nor will they be able to choose their punishment for crimes committed.
Minimizing and rationalizing this behavior, frankly, borders on child abuse, but at the least is poor and improper parenting.
When your accomplices run out of the bank, shouting "Drive, just drive!!!", the hard TRUTH of the REAL WORLD, that these children are essentially being lied to about (.,, via omission ... by their parents), is that in the REAL WORLD you will be held responsible for murder. Claiming you did not even have a gun, and you did not even enter the bank, will simply not be allowed as a defense. Not only will the REAL WORLD hold you responsible for your own individual actions, in the REAL WORLD you will also be held responsible for the actions of your accomplices, even if you did not agree with their actions. That, is simply the way the REAL WORLD is. One can sit in court all day long, and your mommy and daddy can sit in the front row and say how unfair it all is, but in the REAL WORLD, it simply will not matter.
When these children's friends come running out of the convenience store with two stolen six packs, laughing about how they just kicked that clerks a**, it simply will not matter one wit that these parent's precious child only sat in the car waiting.
The parents, of course, will read this, and be thinking, "Oh, precious Johnny would never do those things. That is what black children from poor families do. Johnny only painted phalic symbols."
Frankly, the behavior of the parents appears as irresponsible and neglectful as that of their children. Go figure.
So kids, welcome to the REAL WORLD.
Beach week ?
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 14:47 — shank56Wonder how many of these kids will be allowed to go with their peers to celebrate graduation as many kids do (ie, Myrtle Beach, AB).
Wouldn't it be "fun" if the students recreated their prank at each of their own homes: or a neighbor's home. Then had to clean up.
Oy...
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 14:58 — Bob_SconceI've been around WCPSS teenagers enough to know how big of a disaster that (and the similar spring break trip) can be when there's no supervision. Over the past 20 years, a handful of kids have died from alcohol poisoning, girls have come back pregnant, cars have been wrecked and students have been arrested.
Uhm
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 06:52 — Dove314It doesn't take a graduation trip to the beach for that to happen. Teens make the news when they wreck cars all the time, often fatally at high rates of speed. Yesterday was the funeral for one of the latest set in Wake Forest. 132 mph (?) on their way home from a church function. The rate of teen pregnancy is down somewhat but is by no means nonexistent.
The point -- the goal isn't to prevent your teen from ever having the option to misbehave, it is to teach them the wisdom to make the right choices -- drive within the speed limit even when there is not an adult in the car, etc. and behave because it is right whether or not you are supervising.
Yeah...
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 08:04 — Bob_SconceI agree that you don't need a trip to the beach for bad things to happen. But, my experience has been that having a bunch of high school kids, unsupervised, for days, and nights, in a row is a very bad idea. Don't get me wrong -- I'm with you on the need to untie the apron strings. But, that's a gradual process, and, with scant exception, I think High School is too soon for them to be completely untied.
And yet
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 08:41 — Dove314and yet, 3 months after the end of high school, the apron strings are completely untied for the freshman living away from home at his or her new university.
Yeah...
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 09:58 — Bob_SconceRecognize that you can work that backwards: if end-of-year unsupervised beach trips are fine because they'll be in college in 3 months, then unsupervised spring break trips are fine, because they'll be doing their end-of-year beach trip in a few months. And that means that unsupervised fall trips are fine, because they'll be in spring break in a few months, etc.....
Besides, there's still a modicum of supervision in college, although varies a lot by school. Your child's experience regarding campus police would vary at other schools. And, frankly, college is set up, partially, to mitigate the risk of some of the more dangerous behaviors -- there's a lot less driving, for example. Practically every student health center is stocked with condoms (heck, they're in the waiting room at Duke's; just take a handful.) etc....
College spring break has traditionally been where the completely out-of-control behavior starts; it's a shame to see that push back into high school on the notion that "well, they'll be in college soon anyway."
We are not actually in complete disagreement
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:05 — Dove314The reality is that each parent has to consider carefully what their child is ready to handle or not for all of their endeavors, keeping in mind that at 18, your young adult will be making decisions for themselves. Some children are ready for sleepovers long before others. Some teens may be fine to go away for a weekend (have met some) while others are not mature enough. The key is to figure out what we, as parents, can do to give them the skills and confidence to be away from home for far longer than just a weekend.
Yeah...
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:28 — Bob_SconceMy big concern is really that in addition to trusting your kids to make the right decisions, you also have to trust their friends to make the right decisions. That's why I also don't recommend leaving a high-school kid at home by themselves for a few days while the parents leave town. The kid may not want to host any parties, but if the kids' friends find out (or friends of those friends find out), there may be a party nonetheless. Doubly so if they have a pool. (About 8 years ago, the cops had to come when our neighbor's kid opened the door to the wrong set of kids from his school while his parents were out of town. Their house was trashed -- it was the middle of a drought and one of the kids thought it was funny to try to set the bushes on fire with his cigarette butts; he succeeded.)
Well, not quite. In most
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 08:52 — CaryCurmudgeonWell, not quite. In most cases, when kids go away for their freshman year of college they end up living on campus. Those campuses have rules that are enforced by campus police. Yes, the kids get a good deal more independence, but it is not like they are being turned out into a cold, hard world. To me, this is a big reason why, if at all practical, we should push our kids to consider schools that are not too close to home.
Campus police
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 09:39 — Dove314Bwahahahaha. I've got a child in college now. Wouldn't put my faith in those campus police literally to save my or her life. My college daughter is on the floor laughing as I type this that you believe the campus police do anything except try to protect the reputation of a school. And that the campus administration isn't working with them to keep parents out of the loop.
I guess I just assumed that
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 10:31 — CaryCurmudgeonI guess I just assumed that after all the times campus police caught me in the act back in school that they were pretty effective in enforcing regulations.
OR
Mon, 06/13/2011 - 09:42 — Jeff_morseYou were just an easy target.
Not a good assumption
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:08 — Dove314Can only suggest you not make that assumption.
Yeah, a process that
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 08:52 — woodstockYeah, a process that culminates -- more or less -- when they head off to college.
Amazingly, we agree
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 09:36 — Dove314We have 18 years to do our best to help our children become smart, independent individuals who can think for themselves, be responsible, and make their way through the remainder of their life without us.
... well, hopefully not
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:54 — woodstock... well, hopefully not completely without us. :)
Don't worry
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 16:07 — shank56Hi Mom and Dad,
Sure miss you . Studying hard at school. Love you!
PS: Please send money
And
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 19:12 — Dove314And junk food ...... and, oh, my (18 yr old) roomate got drunk and spilled water on my computer ......
FV senior prank
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 14:11 — newsqrllike this one, Bob! "A prank is clever and not destructive -- these kids got that backwards"
agree - they shouldn't walk. they lost that privelege with this stunt.
fundraiser? ha! sorry, kid, it's your time, sweat, and money that should be paying for the cleanup or paying it back in another way. Not the taxpayers, not the parents.
so only wish they had gotten even more punishment to reinforce what they did was wrong. it's assumed the HS is already cleaned from their mess - so these seniors need to be assigned other service jobs to do. There's lots of roadsides that can use some trash pickups, local schools or other facilities that can use some landscaping/cleanup/maintenance, charities that can use some summer help. Putting 16 young adults to work would sure get a lot of cleanup or other work done around here, and the hot, hard work would give them time to rethink what they did. is it too late to do that?
also noticed different news sources had different versions of this story...so be sure to read around to get a better picture. some seem to downplay the damage they did. why can't the news get the FULL ACCURATE details on this? sad.
I'm not sure what you're
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 14:25 — KeungHui (author)I'm not sure what you're referring to about not having the full accurate details. Based on what I've read in other news outlets, they had far less info.
Hardly a prank
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 10:45 — Bob_SconceFeminine products, penis drawings, toilet paper? Who in their right mind calls that a prank? A prank is clever and not destructive -- these kids got that backwards.
Yeah, it may be that people are travelling from miles away to go to see these kids graduate. Now, they won't be able to see it. But, that's the kids' fault, not the school's.
The students signed a letter
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:27 — CaryCurmudgeonThe students signed a letter of apology and delivered it to McFarland. They proposed holding fundraisers to cover the cost of the cleanup in exchange for letting them walk at graduation.
Um, our school system is broke right now. The parents of these students should be getting an invoice to cover all costs associated with cleaning up the mess. The principal made the right call on barring the kids from the graduation ceremony, but I'd like to see him take the extra step of recovering cleanup costs so that they don't have to be borne by the taxpayers.
??
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:39 — choice4allWhy not make these kids clean it ? A chaperone (at the parents expense of course) could over see the job completed. Thats too easy to hire someone to clean it. Writing a letter is not enough elbow grease or consequence.
I agree completely.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 17:02 — woodstockI agree completely.
That would be my preference,
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:52 — CaryCurmudgeonThat would be my preference, but it sounds like the cleanup as already been done. Let the parents write checks to wcpss and hope they are responsible enough to make their kids work off the debt.
Thank you Principal McFarland
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:24 — choice4allfor taking a stand and standing firm on your decision. It is about time we start seeing consequences for actions rather than excuses.
Wondering
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:15 — loriacIf they are truly remorseful, they will pay for the cleanup even though they can't march.
There's no time before
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 07:43 — allkidsfirstThere's no time before graduation for the kids to back up their remorse with actions that restore trust.
actions have
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 06:42 — AngelaWactions have consequences.....a life lesson
Personal Responsibility
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 09:57 — Jeff_morsePersonal Responsibility – we all need to take “ownership” of our own lives, our decisions, and the consequences of those decisions, rather than relying on our government to make these decisions for us, or bailing us out from our own bad judgment. the time theseoul
These Students should have learned this by now.
!!!
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:29 — choice4all" actions have consequences.....a life lesson"
Do you suppose that this dirty little secret could be instructed in our schools?
we only wish they would,
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 16:50 — AngelaWwe only wish they would, instead they coddle and coo and make excuses because of "issues".....let's see how that works with a future employer, shall we?
well done
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 06:09 — red_balloonThank you to McFarland for being steadfast in enforcing discipline. It is most shameful that the students chose to vandalize an institution that has sought to educate them.