With another year of the senior class ending the year with a signature “trash-the-school” senior prank, I can’t help but wonder, Is trashing the school for the custodian to clean up really the best “prank” an entire class could come up with? 

For example, this year, after the seniors set up their trashed school prank, our lovely custodian, Phil, arrived at Manogue early the next morning to clean up the aftermath – cleaning Solo cups of water and soil out of the plumbing most certainly isn’t in his job description – but the only thing most students could focus on was that they weren’t able to see the “prank” in its full glory. That mindset is completely disrespectful towards the extra work that was put into cleaning the mess – not only was the prank disrespectful to Phil’s hard work, but the reaction to the cleaned up mess was as well.

On a broader scale, senior classes across the country have been taking “trash-the-school” senior pranks too far for ages. Despite these so-called “pranks” being normalized, it shouldn’t take away from the fact that senior classes are widely dismissing the added work for the custodians and janitors at their schools.

In extreme cases, seniors are prohibited from walking at graduation, attaining their diplomas, or even receive felony charges for the vandalism committed.

This senior prank season, think about who’s really going to have to deal with the aftermath of the trashed school – and make sure to thank your school’s custodian.

Thank you to Phil and to all of the custodian staff at Manogue and high schools around the country, you are greatly appreciated.