List of school pranks

A School prank is any of several common pranks. The pranks may occur in or away from school, or in any peer group setting, such as a military barracks, or between siblings.

The effect and intent of school pranks may range from everyday play and consensual bonding behavior to bullying or even assault, including [...] assault.

Common pranks

Bag flipping/Nuggetting/Turtle shelling/Space Bagging

When the victim is not paying attention to their backpack, it is snatched. The contents of the bag are emptied. The bag is then turned inside out, the contents replaced, zipped up again, and returned to its original place. Once the bag is flipped it is said to resemble a nugget, hence the name.

Note: This also commonly done to a person's pencil case. Sometimes, if the victim has left the classroom and will be gone for a while, both the pencil case and schoolbag/backpack are nuggeted along with anything else 'nugget-able' in the bag.

Flat tire/flat foot

The heel of the victim is trod upon, which may cause the victim to stumble. 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.

This is often done unintentionally, and so the prankster may feign innocence only to repeat the prank multiple times.

Hertz Doughnut

This prank fools the victim into giving their permission to get punched. The prankster approaches the chosen target with a closed doughnut or pastry box and asks "Would you like a hertz doughnut?" If the target says yes, the prankster then strikes them in the arm without any warning and asks "Hurts, don't it?" (pronounced "doughnut").

Indian/Chinese burn

Known primarily as an "Indian rug burn" or "Chinese burn" in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand (also known as a "snake bite" in Canada and an "Indian SunBurn" in the USA), this is a prank done by grasping the victim's forearm firmly in both hands, and then twisting the hands in opposite directions AbOUT the victim's arm, causing the tender skin to stretch making it red and sore.

Kancho

Kancho is a prank often played out in Japan; it is performed by clasping the hands together so the index fingers are pointing out and attempting to insert them sharply into someone's anal region when the victim is not looking. It is similar to the wedgie or a goosing, although the latter acts do not involve direct intimate physical contact. A Kancho is often executed simultaneously as the offending party expresses loudly "Kan-CHO!"

Kick me

A note (commonly reading "Kick me") is attached to the back of an unsuspecting victim. This prank May Be performed with Post-it notes or other stickers.

Mooning

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

Nipple cripple

Also known as a "nipple twist", "ruby booby","tweak", "nipple gripple", "titty twister", or a "(purple) nurple", or "purple herbie". It is the act of taking a person's nipple between the thumb and forefinger and then twisting it around . On August 8, 2005, David Thumler, a 15-year-old living in Gold Hill, Oregon, was charged with a misdemeanor for perpetrating this act on 13-year-old Matthew Cox. Thumler was fined US$67 and given three days of community service.

Noogie

Sometimes called a Monkey Scrub or a Russian Haircut, a noogie is performed when the middle knuckles of the fore and middle fingers are rubbed vigorously against the surface of the skull. A headlock may be applied for more exact or prolonged execution. An open-hand variant known as the Dutch Rub is performed with the heel of the hand.

Pantsing

Pantsing, also debagging, depantsing, drooping, shanking, skanking or dacking (in Australia) and dekegging or just kegging (in the United Kingdom) and also commonly said as breeking in Scotland and jocking in Ireland, and popularly referred to as the down-trou (in New Zealand during the 80's and 90's) is the act of pulling down a person's pants (trousers in the United Kingdom) and sometimes also the person's underwear. The most common method is to sneak up behind the intended victim, grab the pants', shorts', or skirt's waistband, and apply a quick downward tug before the victim is aware of the "debagger's" presence.

Shoe-Lacing

This prank involves the tying of a victim's shoe laces together, typically while the victim is seated and distracted. The laces may also be tied to a nearby object such as a chair leg. This may cause the victim to unexpectedly trip or stumble when attempting to get up and move. This prank may be combined with a taunt or additional prank designed to provoke the victim into getting up and running after the prankster, resulting in a more pronounced effect. A related but more destructive prank involves secretly [...] the shoelaces with scissors.

Spitball

A "spitball" is a clump of paper that the prankster has chewed and steeped in his or her saliva, to be thrown, spit, or blown at a person or object. If not removed from some types of surface, they dry and harden into a sort of paper cement. These dried spitballs can often be seen on the ceilings of schools. Small spitballs are often propelled by placing them in a straw or the shaft of a disassembled hollow pen and blowing through the other end. Larger spitballs are sometimes flicked with the fingers or through the use of a rubber band. Sometimes, whole sheets of paper are crumpled and inserted into the mouth for a period of up to five minutes to form a mega spitball which must be thrown manually.

Swirlie

The act of holding the victim upside down with his or her head in the toilet bowl, and flushing. Typically perpetrated by two or more older, larger individuals. Instances of swirling have been prosecuted in courts. More commonly known as bogwashing in the U.K., or dunnyflushing in Australia. Variants of the swirlie include the brown swirlie (or chunky swirlie) and the yellow swirlie, depending upon the contents of the toilet bowl.

Thumbtack

A thumbtack is placed on a chair, with the point upwards, so when the victim sits down, they get pricked by the thumbtack.

Towel snap

Also known as a "Towel Whip", "Towel Whipping" a "Rat-Tail" or "Rat-Tailing", the prankster twists a towel along the diagonal (typically dampened to hold its shape), making it into a whip with a towel corner at the tip. The prankster then "snaps" the towel as if cracking a whip, striking the victim with the tip of the towel and causing pain. This prank is usually performed in communal showers, where wet towels are plentiful and bare skin provides opportunity to maximize the pain inflicted.

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. A wedgie may be performed by one attacker, or by a group. On April 6, 2006, Fox News reported on an Albany, New York teacher who was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child for giving a 10-year-old student a wedgie.

In 2007, eight-year-old second graders Jared and Justin Serovich came up with "wedgie-proof" underwear at the Central Ohio Invention Competition 2007 where their invention got them into the finals.

A variant, known as the "sneaker wedgie", also exists where the attacker rapidly pulls up the shoelaces at the cross-over closest to the toe, often on both feet at the same time, while the victim is distracted. While not generally considered painful, the relacing of the shoes is certainly a nuisance.

Wet willy

Usually performed on a sleeping or otherwise unsuspecting person, the perpetrator of a wet willy wets his or her finger with saliva and inserts it into the ear of the victim. A variant known as the Slimy Buffo involves the making of an OK sign and the closing of the bottom fingers to form a fist-like cup. The rim of the thumb and pointer finger are licked and a loogie is sometimes spit into the center. This rim is then slapped up under the chin of an unsuspecting victim. The Slimy Buffo has fallen out of practice since the early 1990s due to the potential risk of dental injury to victims.

See also

• School bullying