It is that time of year for high school prank wars, but in one Tennessee city, some students are taking it too far.
The Mt. Juliet Police Department reported responding to 13 pranks over the past few weeks involving criminal activity.
Students have been chasing each other in their cars, running through roads and backyards wearing ski masks, and driving without headlights. Others have been shooting paintballs at homes, breaking windows, and placing “liquids” on lawns and houses causing stains.
Some of this behavior carries a “serious risk of injury.”
The Mt. Juliet Police Department has conducted three vandalism investigations in recent weeks, with one still pending.
So far this month, officials have arrested and charged nine teenagers with Disorderly Conduct and Vandalism.
In Tennessee, a minor charged with these crimes can face up to 11 months and 29 days behind bars and up to $2,500 in fines.
Think Before You Act
“Calling something a ‘prank’ does not excuse criminal behavior or actions that place others at risk,” an announcement by the department reads. “A few moments of poor judgment can quickly result in an injury, a vehicle crash, significant property damage, criminal charges, restitution, or consequences that extend far beyond a school tradition.”
Cops are requesting students keep their pranks safe and legal, and to think about the potential consequences of an illegal “prank.”
The hope is pranks don’t continue to intensify and result in injuries or harsher punishments.
Are Prank Wars Escalating?
Mt. Juliet is one of several cities nationwide this year issuing warnings to students.
Just this week, Eunice, Louisiana police asked students to be safe. The warning came following reports of South Louisiana students tying students to poles and leaving them, harming each other physically, and damaging properties as “pranks.”
According to the Jennings, Louisiana Police Department, one student was tied to a pole outside his school.
In New Jersey, Manchester Township High School students put a “For Sale” poster on the school sign, and trashed the school with toilet paper and balloons.
@tcsnnj Manchester High School Class of 2026. Disgusting ! Whoever participated in this should be ASHAMED ! #manchester #classof2026 #seniorprank #disgusting #oceancounty ♬ No Home Training – Bruce Hornsby
Additionally, police departments nationwide have been spreading the word about the viral Cat in the Hat TikTok trend. In the videos, an AI-generated, human-sized Cat in the Hat appears seemingly lurking near schools or neighborhoods.
While high school pranks existed long before the internet, social media may be motivating students to up the ante.
Social Media and Senior Pranks
Experts told Education Week that the chance of going viral could tempt students to post videos of pranks online.
“Emerging studies have indicated that negative and sensational content tends to spread rapidly on social media platforms, giving rise to concerns such as misinformation and negative emotion contagion,” researcher Zoey Yue told Education Week.
A study by the Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies states that a prank “has formed one of the major contents of social media landscape purposively designed to draw public attention to perpetrators’ walls and to generate comments in a social media driven economy of pay-per-click/view.”
Social media algorithms tend to push videos with sensational content (like pranks) because they generate high engagement. Users tend to interact with content that triggers strong emotions—such as fear, shock, or disbelief—even to express their disagreement.
Per the study, individuals carry out pranks against strangers, intimate partners, or friends. Sometimes these pranks have unintended consequences.
The report cited Cindy, who lost her hearing after a loud airhorn was blown into her ear, causing immense distress. Researchers also cited an unidentified girl whose parents claim that prank videos of her posted to YouTube ruined her life.
“The contents of the videos or photographs of the actions may promote the image of the victim or bring them to ridicule in a social media space full of physically known and unknown friends,” the report reads.