Almost every year, seniors decide to say farewell to South Kingstown High School by pulling a prank of some sort. Last year, the school was abused in perhaps the least creative way possible: “ ‘07” spray-painted above the gym doors.

This year, the seniors pulled two pranks.

First, the pranksters took the power cords from many of the computers in the school, seriously irritating staff, faculty and administration and rendering common plan useless for many. The students responsible turned themselves in upon hearing a rumor that they needed to do so if they wanted to keep senior exam exemptions.

A few days later two more seniors bathed the culinary hallway in detergent and cornflakes.

First period classes that took place near the incident on the third floor were moved to the cafeteria.

Both pranks, however, were quickly cleaned up, and by third period everything was business as usual. In fact, the only remaining sign of either prank was a clean white line running through the hallway and a much fresher scent.

The students responsible for the pranks were barred from attending their senior prom.

Right away,  many students believed that the punishment was an overreaction of the most serious nature. Nothing bad went on, the area was cleaned quickly, no one was hurt and no property actually got damaged. In fact, some said the second pranksters did the school a favor.

Here’s the administration acting like a bunch of jerks, right?

Wrong.

The reaction of the administration was totally and completely appropriate. If they had merely reprimanded the students responsible, then perhaps another prank of a more serious nature would have taken place, this time seriously disrupting the peaceful, tranquil atmosphere we have at South Kingstown High School.

In all seriousness, it is the administration’s job to maintain a learning environment to their best ability. Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Cronin, and Ms. Guerra took the necessary actions to prevent catastrophe.

Still, the question persists: should the seniors have done it? Was it worth the punishment?

That’s a question only the devilish minds who came up with the scheme can answer. They upheld an age-old tradition, and I’m sure many have applauded them for that. Whoever they are, they probably feel pretty jaded at the moment, missing out on their prom.

At least the pranks stopped there. At least they weren’t sitting instead in front of police officers, facing charges of destruction of property or needing to pay $ 3,000 to cover the damage they inflicted.

So yeah, I’m defending the administration. I know it’s not exactly in-vogue, but they have made the right decision regarding these events. They responded to the situation correctly.

  Why?

  So it won’t happen again (this year at least).