Mourning the Sad Passing of Another High School Institution

They come across as three intelligent and responsible high school seniors. Slackers? Hardly. The three are heading for Chapman University, UCLA and Dartmouth this fall.

But as they sit in a Tustin bagel restaurant on this, the morning of their graduation from Foothill High School, they just know something is missing. After all the tests and homework and football games, they’ll be graduating with some wild oats left unsown.

They will not experience what previous Foothill students have seen: the flagpole festooned with tires, a teacher’s entire classroom--row by row and desk by desk--relocated to the quadrangle outdoors, or the school pool turned purple with dye.

Unless something totally unforeseen happens on this bright June day, it looks like the school year will end without a single prank from the Foothill High School class of 2001. Seniors will get diplomas on this night and then move on without leaving anything behind for future classes to emulate.

Is that any way to end a high school career?

“I feel deprived,” says Eric Eastman, the son of a newspaper colleague. And he’s only half-kidding. “The way I look at it: When you look at the past four years, it takes away a lot of the fun of high school. You know what I mean? We’re kids. We should have some way to express ourselves, release energy.”

His friends Andrew Finley and Kate Schuerman don’t share Eric’s sense of deprivation, but they wonder why everybody is so uptight these days. They’ve heard the stories of memorable senior class pranks of yesteryear and wonder what the harm would be--assuming that just the right one were chosen.

None endorses violence or cruelty. They even diss the idea of dumping purple dye into the school pool, because that costs big bucks to clean up. Worse, they say, it’s not creative.

And that’s the thing. A mindless prank isn’t worth the time.

When I mention that some Malibu High School seniors somehow impaled a Volkswagen on the school flagpole, I think I detect some envy.

Kate is the most circumspect of the three, perhaps because she’s going to Dartmouth. She’s less concerned about going prank-less than what she considers flagging camaraderie. She laments the dampening effect that the school administration’s preemptive strike against pranksters might have on teen spirit.

“It would have been a fun part of the class of 2001’s legacy if we had a cool, intelligent, interesting prank,” she says.

Failing that, she has contented herself with tales from other schools, other eras. One of her favorites was the one where students got three pigs on campus, painted the numerals 1, 2 and 4 on their sides “and then watched them [school administrators] spend all day looking for No. 3.”

Kate is editor of the school paper, which in December printed two pages of pranks from far and near. School advisors were pretty cool about it, she says, but insisted on a disclaimer: “Students are reminded that pulling pranks of any kind will result in disciplinary action.”

This is not to single out Foothill.

I doubt any school administration welcomes senior pranks. However, the three say, Foothill seniors were warned last fall that pranksterism might jeopardize “special” days that seniors get, including grad-night festivities.

The question is whether this represents social progress.

I would answer, not necessarily.

In the past, students at Foothill and countless other schools went too far--no doubt, because that’s what teenagers sometimes do.

But, we adults should show better judgment than teens and that includes differentiating among youthful indiscretions. Mean-spirited vandalism or cruelty to animals--unfortunate choices that have been exercised at some schools--violate the pranksters’ code.

But, reconstructing a teacher’s entire classroom in the quad--now, that’s funny!

Or, how about the Ventura High School seniors of several years ago who, one by one, gave the principal 345 combs as he handed out diplomas. He took it in good humor but said he didn’t get the joke. A student later said it was because he had perfect hair that no wind could muss.

The Foothill trio say pranks would unite students and restore some fun to offset the increasingly pressurized pace of high school. “It’s the most competitive it’s ever been,” Eric says. “Kids are struggling to get into college.”

After four years of that, is impaling a Volkswagen on a flagpole really so bad?

“I don’t know that anyone here would have thought of that,” Eric says.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.