Senior Prank - 10 Day Suspension

[student123]

What is the name of your state?
Massachusetts

My senior year is winding down and I decided to pull a senior prank. The door to the principals office was open, so I used his phone to play a recording over the intercom. The only word on the recording that could be seen as obscene was erection.
The school is saying that I broke state laws, and I recieved a ten day, out of school suspension. I understand being punished for being in unauthorized areas of the building, but here is nothing in the Code of Conduct or anywhere in the handbook against going on the loud speaker.
Is what I did against the law? Also can they punish me for something that was never stated as a rule? Thank you.

 

[cmorris]

If you read closely, you will see there will be a clause allowing the administration to punish students (or alter punishment for students) for misbehaviors not mentioned in the handbook. It can't cover all the possible scenarios that might happen at school.

Based on your vague post, I don't see a law broken. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.

 

[Happy Trails]

What is the name of your state?
Massachusetts

My senior year is winding down and I decided to pull a senior prank. The door to the principals office was open, so I used his phone to play a recording over the intercom. The only word on the recording that could be seen as obscene was erection.
The school is saying that I broke state laws, and I recieved a ten day, out of school suspension. I understand being punished for being in unauthorized areas of the building, but here is nothing in the Code of Conduct or anywhere in the handbook against going on the loud speaker.
Is what I did against the law? Also can they punish me for something that was never stated as a rule? Thank you.

Commonsense would tell you that you didn't have any business doing what you did. Even if the handbook didn't specifically state the exact thing you did and tell you it was wrong; you knew it was. That is why you called it a senior prank.

Yes, they can punish you, you did break a rule and you know it. Have you seen others using the loud speaker for their own purpose?

 

[You Are Guilty]

What exactly did your tape say on the intercom?

 

[ENASNI]

ha ha

I thought this post would be right up your alley YAG...

Cousin of yours or something...

 

[student123]

It was actually a clip of Rick James, so there was a little bit of inapropriate language. My principal said something about distrupting a public assembly.... what's the law on that?

 

[cbg]

Actually, it doesn't much matter what the law is on that. It doesn't much matter whether you actually violated a law or not.

You did something inappropriate. The school is within their rights to discipline you, regardless of whether a law was broken and regardless of whether or not the handbook specifically prohibits it. I'll bet the handbook doesn't say that you'll be suspended or expelled if you set fire to the superintendents office, but you can bet that's what will happen if you do.

 

[seniorjudge]

It was actually a clip of Rick James, so there was a little bit of inapropriate language. My principal said something about distrupting a public assembly.... what's the law on that?

What clip of Rick James has a "little" bit of inappropriate language?

I want to delete that part from my Rick James collection which has a LOT of inappropriate language.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state?
Massachusetts
My senior year is winding down and I decided to pull a senior prank. The door to the principals office was open, so I used his phone to play a recording over the intercom. The only word on the recording that could be seen as obscene was erection.

Irrelvant.

The school is saying that I broke state laws, and I recieved a ten day, out of school suspension.

And you just learned a valuable lesson that will stay with you for the rest of your life. You don't want to pay the price, don't do the 'joke'.

I understand being punished for being in unauthorized areas of the building, but here is nothing in the Code of Conduct or anywhere in the handbook against going on the loud speaker.

Irrelevant

Is what I did against the law?

Tresspass, illegal entry, burglary, appropiration of government property....shall I go on?

Also can they punish me for something that was never stated as a rule? Thank you.

Yes they can. It's called loco parentis (in the place of the parent) and if you think that's tough, think about the last time your parents punished you for something you didn't think was a big deal.

It's time to grow up.

 

[JETX]

Is what I did against the law?

Based SOLELY on the information in your post, no.

Also can they punish me for something that was never stated as a rule?

Yes.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Let me tell you a little story. Pan back a loooong time ago, when I was in 6th grade and head of the "AV" squad (yeah, yeah, I know). Our school had a master control board that connected every intercom/speaker in the building to various inputs, like the principal's morning speech mike, to the auditorium's film projector's sound system.

Well, since I clearly didn't learn my lesson in 5th grade when I handed out a bunch of girlie magazines I found on the way to school to some of the 3rd and 4th graders, someone may have "accidentally" turned on only the speakers outside the school, and also might have "borrowed" a microphone to be plugged into the projector's recepticle, and then maybe, just maybe, did their best 6th grade impression of Eddie Murphy's Delirious to the schoolyard.

Turns out, despite that not being in the school handbook as a specifically "prohibited act", they can suspend you for it.

So, moral of the story is, only tell jokes from "Raw", because the material from "Delirious" just makes people mad.

 

[student123]

I understand my punishment as far as school goes.... but my principal handed the tape recorder over to the police for a criminal investigation.... What, if anything, could I be charged for?

 

[seniorjudge]

I understand my punishment as far as school goes.... but my principal handed the tape recorder over to the police for a criminal investigation.... What, if anything, could I be charged for?

You could possibly be charged with some CS charge like peace disturbance, but let's hope the prosecutor is too busy with other stuff to bother with this incident.

Keep a low profile.

I got kicked out of high school too (details omitted) but I knew going into the mission that suspension was the only outcome.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

I got kicked out of high school too (details omitted) but I knew going into the mission that suspension was the only outcome.

1968 - Kaiserslautern High School, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
REASON - drinking on school grounds.

1969 - McClellan High School, Little Rock, arkansas
REASON: Long hair and refusing to have it cut.

1969 - Atwater High School, Atwater, California.
REASON - Stolen Merced Mascot in classroom

1970 - Northeast High School, Kansas City, Mo.
REASON - Fighting (this was a school of 1/2 blacks and 1/2 mean Italians and I GET KICKED OUT for breaking a guys nose?????)

1974 - Kansas University, Lawrence, Ks.
REASON - Protesting rate hikes without due-process.

1977 - Northeast Louisiana University, Monroe, LA.
REASON - Her father was the dean of men and there was too much dead air

 

[rmet4nzkx]

1968 - Kaiserslautern High School, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
REASON - drinking on school grounds.

1969 - McClellan High School, Little Rock, arkansas
REASON: Long hair and refusing to have it cut.

1969 - Atwater High School, Atwater, California.
REASON - Stolen Merced Mascot in classroom

1970 - Northeast High School, Kansas City, Mo.
REASON - Fighting (this was a school of 1/2 blacks and 1/2 mean Italians and I GET KICKED OUT for breaking a guys nose?????)

1974 - Kansas University, Lawrence, Ks.
REASON - Protesting rate hikes without due-process.

1977 - Northeast Louisiana University, Monroe, LA.
REASON - Her father was the dean of men and there was too much dead air

What a Vitae, though a few shy of a top ten list, butt close!
Please explain the latter 1977 entry in greater de tail?