<p>So my DS just got a one day suspension tomorrow for a stupid senior prank. Anybody know if this will show up in his final transcript to the colleges? Will they find out about it and will they care??</p>
<p>Have your son come clean immediately. Nobody likes to be surprised... least of all a college admissions office. Have him call, explain, take full responsibility, and warn them that the suspension is real even if it doesn't end up on his transcript. They will respect him for full disclosure, and he won't spend the summer dreading every phone call.</p>
<p>I think I might call guidance first and ask how it will be handled - schools differ. If there is any chance at all the college might find out - he should call and 'fuss up.</p>
<p>Still talk with his counselor as she will represent him re this issue. She will want to know that he has remorse and takes responsibility for his actions. She can then represent him accordingly especially if she knows him well and knows his record and usual behavior. He should be fine. It is the suspensions that involve drugs, alcohol and dishonesty that you would worry about. A 1 day suspension over a prank is not usually a probleml, I know kids that have 1 day suspensions for forgetting to turn cell phones off in class. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Care to share the details??</p>
<p>If it won't show up on transcripts (ask GC if it will) and the GC says he or she doesn't think it is serious enough to report to the college, I say let sleeping dogs lie.</p>
<p>In these days of "Zero Tolerance" for ANYTHING, it amazes me that kids jeopardize their future by doing pranks. Plus you never know when a prank will spiral out of hand with unintended consequences.</p>
<p>Here in my parents state, some "good" kids decided to set a golf cart at a local golf course on fire one night. The cart set the pro shop/restaurant on fire, causing oodles of damage and throwing all of the restaurant workers out of their jobs. Not intended by the kids, I'm sure...</p>
<p>As I always tell my kids, "You try to be cute and someone gets hurt." from a no-fun Mom</p>
<p>ahhh...the senior prank, whatd he do? and nah...the suspension doesn't usually show up on transcipts and stuff. They usually ask that during applications, like if you've been disciplined for something, then they check your school refs to make sure.</p>
<p>Okay thanks all. I called the GC and she finally called back. Doesn't show on transcript. She won't report because he is a good kid. Here's the story...he was in the library, decided he was sick of the morning announcements and cut the wires to the speaker. Both the VP and the GC told me they hate the morning announcements too but.... GC says that when you apply she has to answer a section on any suspensions/expulsions. She did at the time and the answer was none. She doesn't report anything else to the college, just sends final transcript and final transcript doesn't show suspensions. So guess he will be going to the gym with me at 5:00am tomorrow and doing all my errands during the day..lol.</p>
<p>Part two. I am officially cancelling his other senior prank which was letters to every senior parent on school stationary saying that due to budget cuts each senior could only have one parent at graduation...and giving school number to call with problems...lol.</p>
<p>I suggest that you have your son talk to his GC about whether the college will be informed. This will allow him to take responsibility for his misjudgment. If the college will be informed, your son should send a letter explaining what happened and taking responsibility for and showing remorse for his actions.</p>
<p>His humbly talking to the GC also is more likely to leave the GC with a favorable opinion of him than if you call her.</p>
<p>Isn't the school expecting your son to pay for fixing the wires? If so, I would expect my kid to earn the money to pay for that. It also would seem appropriate for him to do some kind of labor to help him reflect on the labor he caused other people to do.</p>
<p>Oh yes forgot to say he is paying for the wires out of his own money. He has a minimum wage job....and he will be working for me tomorrow.... manual labor.</p>
<p>Ah, excellent response to his misjudgment!
Isn't it fun being the parent of a senior? This too shall pass and some day be a family joke....</p>
<p>yup, actually my husband has a coaster in his office that says "the crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow"..lol. and at least he didn't set anything on fire....</p>
<p>I wouldn't just make him work tomorrow, its his day off from school, so 6 of one, half dozen</p>
<p>i would have him give me a weekend evening or day as well, cause, while it was just a prank, cutting wires to speakers, if there had been an emergency, it might have been bad</p>
<p>Did he get caught, or did he confess, did someone tell on him?</p>
<p>Oh yeah, he should by an EXTRA set of wires, just in case....make it sting a little</p>
<p>Okay, his second prank would have been kind of funny (in a mean kind of way) imagine the freaked out parents</p>
<p>Who tells their parents about a senior prank? It seems like it would violate the prank-ness of it...</p>
<p>Of course, I probably would have told mine had I done anything. But that's because I trust their judgment better than my own and would have wanted to avoid doing something like the golf-cart-on-fire thing without realizing how stupid it was.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In these days of "Zero Tolerance" for ANYTHING, it amazes me that kids jeopardize their future by doing pranks.
[/quote]
I think the key word in that sentence is "kids". Hey, if they were born with good judgment what would they need us for?</p>
<p>Remorse? I don't think so. Yeah, he should pay for the repairs (or make them himself) but I think "remorse" is a little on the heavy side for what was, indeed, just a "prank". Frankly, I think the world would not be a better place if we succeeded in raising a generation which had no one who would ever "cut the wires." JMHO.</p>
<p>In my son's HS, the school evolved from trying to prevent pranks to actually helping facilitate some (without being too obvious about it). For example, on prank night, the doors to the school are left unlocked and school security monitors things (again, with a very low profile). So when the next day comes and the school hallways are blocked with strings of yarn across the hall or ceiling tiles have been replaced with ones with home-made messages or a cow ends up on the roof, it's the responsibility of the kids who did the pranks to clean up after themselves. Everyone has fun, and because it has a semi-official sanction, the pranks do not get too much out of hand.</p>
<p>BTW, the letter on school stationary sounded like a clever idea.</p>
<p>I think that you son is very fortunate because what he did as a prank could have come back to bite him as an act of vandalism with more serious conseuences.</p>
<p>maybe I am getting old, but I thought pranks were suppose to be all in good fun and essentially a no harm, no foul situation.</p>
<p>I agree that the letter thing is pretty funny. I think the key is not to be destructive, even cutting wires.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago our local hs srs did a great joke specifically on the jrs. There is only room for parking for srs at our hs. Senior students purchase parking passes that are only good for a specifically numbered space. Jrs. usually park on the streets nearby the school. One day all the seniors got up extra early and parked along all the streets. Jrs of course couldn't park in the lot because they didn't have parking passes and would get ticketed.<br>
Harmless but somewhat amusing.</p>
<p>Boy, Citygirlsmom, I'm glad you weren't MY parent! Of course, I am the parent of a kid who has pushed a lot of limits, but I don't think cutting the wires was that terrible. The price has/will be paid, it sounds like. That is a relatively minor senior prank. MANY senior pranks have consequences and result in suspensions and restitution. This is pretty minor, really. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time! The letter-thing would have been hilarious.</p>