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'''Warning: Some of these 'pranks' may be considered criminal acts in most jurisdictions.'''

A '''school prank''' is a [[prank]] pulled at [[school]] by a student or group of students, usually on another student or, less commonly, a [[teacher]]. If a prank produces sufficient emotional or physical injury, the act may be legally treated as assault. Such assault may include [[sexual harassment]] or a [[violent crime]].

In [[primary education]] pranks are commonly perpetrated by [[Bully|Bullies]] seeking to dominate less powerful children. During [[higher education]], or military training, [[hazing]],  an extreme form of prank or harrasment, is practiced by some student groups such as [[fraternities and sororities]] to enforce group cohesion.

This is a list of notable and long-standing pranks referenced in popular culture.

:<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="listdev">''This is an [[Wikipedia:Incomplete lists|incomplete list]], which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness. Revisions and additions are welcome, but should '''only''' include [[WP:NOTABILITY|notable]] pranks which can be [[WP:V|verified]] from [[WP:RS|reliable sources]].''</div>

==Pain pranks==
<!-- Do not add uncited pranks. Do not add simple bullying. -->
Many if not all pranks involving the causing of pain are regarded as [[bullying]] or even [[assault]] and can result in [[punishment (school)|punishment]].

===Capital of Thailand===
The prankster asks the unsuspecting victim to name the capital of Thailand. When either party gives the answer, "Bangkok", the prankster punches the victim in the crotch. This was popularised in the ''[[American Pie (film)|American Pie]]'' movies.

===Circle hand game===
The "[[circle hand game]]" is usually played by people on speaking terms. The prankster makes a circle with his thumb and index finger and holds it somewhere below his waist. If the target looks at the circle, the prankster gets to punch him on the arm. There are various rules on when the circle "counts" and how it can be "blocked" or reversed, which are usually improvised. The circle game was featured in an episode of ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]''[http://www.fox.com/malcolm/journal/206.htm] but is much older.

=== Dead arm / leg ===
An impact to a nerve causes the victim to temporarily lose function in an arm or leg.  See also [[charley horse]], a medical condition with similar results.

===Eraser burn===
An '''eraser burn''' is an injury caused when an [[eraser]] is rubbed hard against the [[skin]]. Eraser burns are not heat or chemical [[burn (injury)|burns]] but [[abrasion]]s. They are named so because of the burning sensation they produce. Most eraser burns are not deep enough to cause bleeding. Those which are, however, may take several weeks to heal. Someone on the receiving end of an eraser burn should run it under water directly after contact, to keep it from scabbing over and causing discomfort when the hand is bent, as well as to prevent scarring.

===Happy slapping===
{{main|Happy slapping}}

Happy slapping is a prank whereby a person, or group of persons slap an unsuspecting victim (usually women or lone men) while an accomplice films the assault using any form of video recording device, most commonly as camera phone or a smart phone. It is thought to have first become popular in South London, but it has now spread across Europe.



===Indian burn===
Also known as a "Chinese burn", "song title", "Chinese bangle", "snake bite", "Indian rugburn", or "Indian sunburn". An Indian burn is the act of one person grasping another by the forearm, with both hands positioned next to one another, and proceeding to twist the skin of the forearm in opposite directions. It can be painful and is usually performed by rambunctious children at play. The name "Indian burn" alludes to the notion that [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] are 'red men' and comes from the fact that the procedure renders a light-skinned victim's skin red.

===Nipple cripple===
Also known as a "[[nipple]] twist", "[[tit]]ty twister", or a "([[purple]]) nurple", it is the act of taking a person's nipple between the thumb and forefinger and then twisting it around roughly. This game is typically played among young males wearing shirts. A way this can be done is by asking what farmers grow that is round and pink and the prankster says turn nip and gives them the nipple cripple.
On [[August 8]], [[2005]], David Thumler, a [[Gold Hill, Oregon|Gold Hill]], [[Oregon]] 15-year-old, was charged with a [[misdemeanor]] for doing this act to 13-year-old Matthew Cox. Thumler was fined [[United States dollar|US$]]67 and given three days of community service. [http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7242_1455551,00180008.htm]

===Noogie===
The act of rubbing one's [[knuckle]] on another person's [[head (anatomy)|head]]. It can be very painful if much pressure is applied, but is often also a playful gesture of [[affection]] when done lightly. The origin of the word is unknown, but it may have been derived from the [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] word ''nudyen'', a verb meaning "to pester", from which the [[English language|English]] word nudge (in the sense of "to annoy, pester") is derived. It may also refer to the "noggin" which is another word for head. However, the noogie can also represent jokes among friends.

===Pile on===
Also known as '''stacks on the mill''', '''bundle''' and '''dogpile''', a mass pile onto the victim resulting in a heap of kids with the victim of the bottom. A variation is to attempt to make the victim say the phrase "pile on" (or a [[homonym]] such as pylon). When this occurs the prankster shouts "pile on!" and everyone in the surrounding area jumps on top of the victim.

Australians have been known to call this "Stacks On"



===Smell the Cheese!===
A trick that involves the perpetrator hold one palm face upwards and then placing the other hand in a fist shape on top. This represents the cheese on the cheeseboard. They then ask the victim to "smell the cheese!" whilst holding it up to their face. If the person puts their nose near, the perpetrator moves the "cheese" quickly along the board and punches the other in the nose, often very painful.



===Stamp collecting===
The victim is asked if he likes collecting stamps. If answered in the affirmative, the perpetrator stamps on his foot; if negative, he is still given a stamp 'to start his collection with'. This prank has largely disappeared from schools as the popularity of stamp collecting has declined.

===Tack on the seat===
A [[thumbtack]] is placed on the victim's seat, sharp end upwards usually held up by chewing gum. Another way of doing this is to push the tack through the bottom of the seat, so the victim doesn't notice.

==Embarrassment pranks==
===Banana Skin===
A banana skin is placed on the floor in a high-traffic area.  Banana skins are supposedly notoriously slippery, and when the victim steps on the skin they are likely to skid and fall.

===Debagging / depantsing===
The victim's [[pants]] are pulled down. This particular prank is mostly done with boys but can be done by girls, because of the loose pants they wear (jeans, trousers, [[shorts]] exc.) The term ''debagging'' comes from the colloquialism ''bags'', a British public-school term for trousers (pants). In Australia and New Zealand the term is called Dacking, as the slang term for underwear is "Dacks" in these two countries{{fact}}. In the US, this prank has also came to be known as "short-shocking" or "shanking"{{fact}}. In Scotland, UK this prank is known as "Scanting" and someone who is the victim of this prank has been "scanted"{{fact}}

===Kick me===
Chalked tagging of the rear of school blazers with phrases such as "Kick me", sometimes by chalking in mirror writing on the victim's chair. Now more often done with [[post-it note]]s or other stickers.

===The Pen Club: Pen member #15===
The prankster invites the victim into a secret ceremony, for which there is a small and painless initiation rite. "It's simple to join the [[The Pen Fifteen Club|Pen Club]]," the prankster says, "We have fourteen members already so I'll just write 'pen fifteen' on your hand." The prankster then proceeds to write "PEN15" on the hand of the victim, which is indistinguishable from the word "penis."

===Swirly===
Also known as a "twirly", a "whirly" (or "whirling"), being "bogwashed", "dunny flushed", or the "royal flush". The act of a person putting another person's head in a [[toilet]] and flushing it.

===Warm water prank===
Like the "blanket party", this prank can only occur where students (or campers) sleep. The fingers, or entire hand, of the sleeper are immersed in a cup or bucket of warm water. This is intended to make the victim [[enuresis|urinate in his or her sleep]]. It may not always work, however, and when it doesn't, the frustrated pranksters may simply just pour the water on the victim. This long-standing prank is described in [[Spike Milligan]]'s military memoirs and other sources.

===Wedgie===
{{Main|wedgie}}
A '''wedgie''' is any one of a variety of pranks involving pulling the victim's [[underwear]] up so that it wedges between the [[buttocks]].

===Mooning===
"Mooning" is displaying one's bared buttocks to someone, so-called because the buttocks are generally not suntanned, so purportedly resemble a full moon. It is commonly performed out of windows of moving buses.

==Annoyance pranks==
===Bra strap / suspenders snap===
The act of grabbing a [[brassiere|bra]] strap through the material of the back of a girl's top, and releasing it with a snap; also historically practiced with suspenders (braces).

=== Computers ===
Pranks with computer equipment generally involve switching the connections of one or more peripherals (mouse, keyboard, display) between adjacent computers. Alternatively, the connection or connections will simply be removed from the computer of the victim.

Another computer prank involves taking a screenshot of the victim's desktop, then setting the image as the new background for the desktop, and then deleting or moving some or all of the shortcuts on the victim's desktop. When the victim attempts to double-click and launch their shortcuts, nothing will happen as they have been moved or deleted. A variation of this involves opening several windows before taking the screenshot, and then closing them after the background has been set. When the user goes to close the windows, nothing will happen because they were already closed and the "windows" are really just images in the background.

=== Doors ===
Door pranks include:
* balancing objects on top of a door which is ajar (a bucket of water is commonly shown in cartoon representations of this)
* running a tripwire across the bottom of the doorway
* blocking keyholes with aluminium foil or superglue
* pinning a sheet or strings across the outside of an inward-opening room door, to catch the occupant on the way out
* wedging the door shut with a chair
* unscrewing and reversing the "push" and "pull" signs on a door
* Leaning against the door so that somebody cannot get through, then suddenly backing off so the victim falls through the doorway
* Placing a large sheet of paper to cover the door completely, poking several holes in the paper, and then proceeding to spray gratuitous amounts of shaving cream in the holes.  When the victim opens their door, they will be greeted with a large wave of shaving cream.  Popular in college dorms.

===Goosing===
The prankster grabs, punches or pinches the buttocks or genitalia of the victim. This was a fairly common practice during the 1930s and was not considered to be any more serious than hurling a spitball or putting gum on someone's chair. A variant is known in Japan as [[kancho]].

===Heels===
By catching the heel of a victim walking in front, the victim may be caused to stumble, or their shoe may come off. Stepping on the rear portion of the shoe as the foot lifts and thereby removing it is also a "Heels" variant known as a "Flat Tire". A variant is to kick their heel forwards as it lifts.

Another name for this particular prank is called "derailing", coming from the fact that the victim usually has to stop to put their shoe on again.



===Shoe laces===
Tying a victim's shoe laces together, or sometimes to a convenient object such as a chair leg, is a common prank. Less common is cutting them while the victim is seated and distracted.

===Short sheeting===
A prank done at camps or on excursions where children sleep in full beds (also common in the military). It is achieved by untucking the foot end of the bottom bedsheet and wrapping it around to the bed opening, making it look as if it is two sheets (the base plus the covering sheet). The victim will find that he cannot get into bed (as doing this "shortens" the bed length). Known as an 'Apple-pie bed' in the UK.

===Ties===
Pranks involving [[necktie|ties]] include pulling the free end of the tie sharply, causing the knot to tighten to the point of being almost impossible to undo, and hooking a finger through the label and pulling it off.



===Towel snap===
Also known as a "Rat-Tail" or "Rat-Tailing", the prankster twists a towel (typically wetted to hold its shape) along the diagonal, making it into a [[whip]] with a towel corner at the tip. The prankster "snaps" the towel as if cracking a whip, striking the victim with the tip of the towel and causing pain.

===Wet willy===
The prankster wets his finger in his mouth, and then puts it into the ear canal of the victim. This is most effective when the victim is completely unaware of the approaching prank. Another way to perform this is to pretend to massage the victim and then to insert your wet finger into the ear.

==Organized pranks==
Many schools and colleges have a [[rag week]] (or rag day, called by local names in some areas), during which pranks ([[ragging]]) are commonplace. This may include the staging of organized hoaxes and other pranks, generally for the benefit of charity. Recorded examples include letting animals into school, turning small cars onto their roof or lifting them into places from which they cannot be driven out, painting of slogans across multiple windows of the school, water fights and the like.

It is also common for those leaving a school to go out in a "blaze of glory", with various kinds of mischief conducted on their last day which may encompass damage to school property. This is especially true in high school with seniors, as the graduating class almost always participates in "senior pranks". This is known in Australia as ''muck-up day'' (probably [[bowdlerise]]d). Though the "Muck-up Day" has slowly become less popular in Australia, mostly New South Wales, after some students from schools have taken pranks too far and resulted in arrests and large fines (Painting a rival school's gates Pink etc).

==External links==
* [http://prank.org/pranks/school-pranks-vf4.html The Prank Institute's school pranks]
* [http://www.pranksonline.com PranksOnline]

[[Category:Dynamic lists|Dynamic lists]]
[[Category:Practical jokes]]