By Ewan Palmer
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Two students have been banned from taking part in their upcoming graduation walk after playing a penis-themed prank at their school, according to reports.
The students, who have not been named, admitted to placing the fake male sexual organs along the roofline of the Westbrook High School in Connecticut as well as erecting a sign with "very thick, sticky kind of goop" over it.
Speaking to the Connecticut Post, Superintendent of Schools Patricia Ciccone said the students who hung the "male appendages" off the school roof have been suspended for between five and 10 days and will not be allowed to take part in their graduation walk on June 17.
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"I know the principal is not [considering it a prank]," Ciccone said. "And what I have seen of materials, I wouldn't call it a prank either."
Ciccone said they are taking the matter seriously because the students would have had to climb up onto the roof in order to hang the fake penises.
"We have gas lines, we have electrical lines, solar panels. It's a gravel, flat roof, so we don't know the extent of running around up there," she said. "It's a dangerous place to be at night. Security cameras were tampered with and left covered, so if we have had anything else that night, so there's quite a bit more to it."
At least three students were said to have been on the roof, but only two were identified by the surveillance cameras. According to Zip06, dozens of Westbrook High students wore T-shirts urging the school to reinstate the two suspended students.
The prank was discussed at a Board of Education (BoE) meeting on June 11. Fellow graduating senior Ben Schreck told the board that other students also share the blame for the prank.
"In a spirit of honesty I admit to you that, to varying degrees, the vast majority of the senior class was involved in this prank," he said. "While we didn't exactly execute the prank, and there was no malicious intent behind it, we still had a role. The fact that we weren't present at the time of the prank does not exonerate us."
Ciccone said she saw no evidence of other students being involved in the prank apart from those who "participated by throwing some money into a pot" to purchase supplies. Ciccone added the decision regarding the students not being allowed to walk at their graduation will not change.
"We are only too lucky that none of them were hurt because they were hanging over the side of the roof line affixing things to the front of the building along the roof line," Ciccone said.
Westbrook High School principle Tara Winch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Oregon, dozens of high school students were threatened with being prohibited from their graduation walk as well as fined a cleaning cost after playing a senior prank at their school.
A total of 44 students were warned they faced being charged a total of $47.55 each to help pay for the $2,092.32 in damages they caused at Gladstone High School with the prank, which involved them moving hundreds of desks from classrooms into the halls and replacing a teacher's white board erasers with hot dogs.
However, following a consultation, Gladstone Principal Kevin Taylor confirmed that all 44 students would be able to participate in the graduation ceremony.
Around 140 students at Wekiva High School in Florida weren't so lucky after they were accused of causing $20,000 worth of damages during their senior prank.
The teens involved allegedly graffitied the walls, threw glitter everywhere, set off fire extinguishers and covered trees with toilet paper and bubble wrap as part of the prank.
In a letter to parents, the Orange County School District said: "Vandalizing property, even if it's a senior prank, will not be tolerated and individuals will be prosecuted."
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