It’s a rite of passage. Seniors, on their way out the door, want to leave behind some clever prank by which they can be remembered. The senior class at Wakefield High School just pulled off what I’d consider a high-quality senior prank.

On the day of the Democratic primary, the covered the school lawn with gazillions of yard signs. Most of them were for Republican candidates, none of whom was on the ballot. (There were lots of McCain signs.)

That’s a great prank–it’s clever, it requires some careful planning, and it doesn’t hurt anything. (Yes, they did spend part of the morning removing all the signs.)

Reportedly, seniors at a Fairfax high school once let four gerbils loose in the hall. On their backs were painted numbers–1, 2, 3, and 5. It took administrators a while before they realized there was no errant Gerbil #4.

I think pranks like that are fun. But when I hear about seniors trashing part of their school building, or pouring bleach on someone’s lawn, or doing something else that is just destructive, I lose my patience.

Besides, the only memory that will leave behind is, “Thank God THEY’RE gone.”