The Progression of Pranks

There comes a time in most people’s lives when they feel the need to pull a prank. This can be a young eight year old who decides to tie yarn to absolutely everything in his sister’s room because he feels that as the younger brother, he is called to be just plain annoying. This desire could also manifest itself in elementary school, when a substitute teacher comes in and the students decide to initiate them by constantly switching names throughout the day. Pranks can become more elaborate as age progresses into high school. Pranks can take the form of the song "Stacey’s Mom" substituted for the national anthem or over five thousand cups of water covering the entire floor of the school lobby (search “grade 12 prank” on youtube...first hit). As students hit university, the pranks can become even more imaginative. Perhaps you decide to steal your neighbours’ food and hang it from a tree outside. Or maybe you pull a revenge prank by taking absolutely everything out of someone’s room, pictures and bed covers included. The common medium to reveal your mischievous genius is through posting a picture on Facebook, which just heightens the anticipation of a counter prank. This progression of pranks is, to most people, absolutely hilarious and is all in good fun.

There are several items that need to be observed when considering a prank: you need to be sure your target will think it is funny, it can’t involve destruction of valuables, and must be relatively easy to clean up after the fact. These simple rules aren’t very difficult to abide by, and they ensure that pranks continue to be a riot to all involved, both perpetrator and victim. Nothing is funnier than seeing the face of your victim when they discover that their dorm has been turned upside down. There are many wry smiles as the victims marvel at the devilish ingenuity of the mysterious perpetrators. Everyone has a good time with such well-thought-out pranks.

However, pranking walks a very fine line. If any of the above lines are crossed, people get upset. If there is something taken that limits the ability to do school-work, that type of prank isn’t appreciated. If something is difficult to clean up, it just becomes an annoyance. These types of pranks need to be avoided.

There is a line, however, that cannot be crossed. This line comes in many forms, but when it is crossed, it becomes a lot more than just an annoyance. The prank becomes an event that gets people angry, ruins relationships, and creates a bad feeling in a dorm or across a campus. This line can’t really be defined except by the victims and the perpetrators. When pulling a prank, everyone involved needs to search within themselves and think about what kind of havoc they will cause. Pranking can be tons of fun, but when it is done with malicious intent or without a Christian attitude, there is no longer any enjoyment. Perhaps we all have gone too far at one time or another, but hopefully we have all come clean, apologized, and worked things out. If you have gone too far in a prank recently, perhaps you too should take on a Christian attitude before you prank again.

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