For some high school students, administrators like principals and superintendents serve only as figures of authority bent on preventing students from expressing themselves. Many New Jersey students have had their teachers send them to the principal's office when they purportedly become distractions in class. While such administrators are tasked with providing safe and educational schools for kids to attend, they often do become the faces of punishment when students allegedly engage in impermissible actions.
The recent arrest of 63 New Jersey high school students for a prank has made national headlines and has caused some school administrators to evaluate how to address this traditional senior year event. While it is not unheard of for students to be suspended for over-the-top pranks, the arrest of more than five dozen young people is somewhat unprecedented. The superintendent of the district where the arrests occurred has taken an interesting position regarding the events that occurred at one of her district's high schools.
Superintendent Barbara Pinsak has claimed that the publicity surrounding the event was magnified and that students did not do all of the destructive things the police alleged them to have done. Particularly she stated that no urine was found by janitors during their clean-up. Allegations surrounding the event stated that students relieved themselves in the building.
While janitors did have to remove graffiti and sweep, Pinsak's comments show that a person cannot always get a completely true story from law enforcement officials' claims or news stories. The criminal charges brought against these 63 young people will likely have serious long-term consequences on their futures. They may be required to work with criminal defense specialists in order to get past the outstanding charges.
Students and administrators are not always on the same side of matters but in this case a superintendent stepped up to provide necessary information in support of her students' legal plights. The futures of these young people may be forever impacted by their alleged involvement in this matter. As their trials begin, one can hope that the full truth of what happened in the school comes out and that misrepresentations are proven to be erroneous.
Source: SFGate.com, "Schools boss says class prank overblown," May 3, 2014