Senior pranks are a staple in senior-year traditions in high schools across the United States. From instant mashed potatoes in public pools to playfully “kidnapping” principals, senior pranks vary widely from harmless to risque, cheap to expensive and small to large scale.
In Australia and the United Kingdom, senior pranks are confined to a specific day of the year, known as “Muck-up Day.” Though the origin of the tradition is unknown, the “final hurrah” of graduating seniors in high school and colleges has been around for generations.
This year, an anonymous Google form circulated on Instagram within the Ida B. Wells-Barnett senior class that gave students an opportunity to suggest prank ideas, and self-report how much money they’d be willing to invest. From that list, another Google form emerged with the top choices.
Honorable mentions that weren’t chosen included hiring a mariachi band/mime to follow Principal Coning around the whole day on May 29, coordinating the entire student body to each bring a watermelon to school and switching the senior class with Lincoln High School’s (LHS).
The chosen prank this year was for the senior class to spend the night in the teacher parking lot and on the football field Thursday, May 22. There was some controversy with this choice, as some students were unhappy with the scale of the project, wanting something more intrusive and impactful.
The prank this year didn’t even occur in school halls, and part of the comedic appeal of senior pranks is putting on something the whole school sees and to a minor degree disrupts the school day.
IBW senior Forrest Holt says, “I feel like the options were really lame and wouldn’t really work… there’s no communication about senior events.”
For example, the prank that was chosen wasn’t actually on the voting form that circulated. That form was also never specifically credited or officially tied to a student group or individual at IBW. When pulling off a “secret” prank, anonymity is important, but it can impede on organization and planning.
IBW senior Katie Douglas wishes seniors had chosen to switch with Lincoln instead, and the chosen prank is, “awful and not inclusive to people who don’t wanna ruin their sleep.” This prank might’ve been better received by seniors because it majorly disrupts the school day at IBW and LHS as well.
IBW senior Jaden Marshall says, “it needed to be something the other grades could see when they came to school.”
The overnight on the field turnout was rather abysmal, with the majority of the senior class staying home. All in all, the general consensus for this year’s senior prank was negative. Perhaps the class of 2026 will take notes and show up next year with new ideas.
