By LINDSEY DYE
Trying hard to ignore the thorns digging into his sides, he squats in the bushes and attempts to breathe more quietly to hide from the parents who are searching around the house. As the flashlight finds its way closer to the bush where he is hiding, he desperately sucks in every inch possible to stay out of the light…too late.
Senior Step Up is one of the school’s most memorable traditions where upperclassmen toilet paper the underclassmen’s houses. With the tradition comes laughs, tears, plentiful trips to discipline and brutal arguments on Facebook and through text messages.
“To what extent the school can get involved is a fine line. If it’s at a school function, then the school has jurisdiction. [Students have to think if it is] worth doing something stupid to cause a black eye to the school and having the school respond by taking away privileges like senior snake, senior breakfast or the senior picnic,” Officer Scott Daniels said.
However, students are not aware that at some point in all of the egging and toilet papering, the tradition changed and people lost sight of what the tradition really is. Somehow people have started to carry it out in their own, incorrect way.
“If what you are doing is criminal activity, then absolutely not, I don’t recommend it. Find a better way to celebrate becoming a senior. What positives are there? I don’t see any. Say you have 400 people who will be seniors next year-can’t those 400 people come up with something else to do? Put caricatures of the class officers in the planters; poke fun that way,” Daniels said.
Senior step up is supposed to consist of seniors hazing juniors on the night of the senior’s last day of school as if to tell the juniors that they are not the new rulers of the school yet; juniors are not supposed to haze the sophomores.
“My mailbox was put on top of my roof. All of my mom’s plants were ripped up, somebody put a couch in my yard, there was trash all over the place and they wrote stuff in shaving cream on my driveway and in my street. It made me feel unwanted in the world,” junior Sarah Figueroa said.
First time vandalism charges with minimal damages (less than $400) is generally deemed a misdemeanor. The consequences of a misdemeanor are fines, restitution, community service and three years of informal probation. The majority of hazing performed during senior step up are vandalism and could result in being charged.
“Maybe knowing about all of the charges could have changed my decision to participate in Senior Step Up but you have to be smart and not get caught,” a senior male said.
Vandalism is described as willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property. Examples of vandalism are slashing a tire, keying a car, breaking a window and egging or toilet papering a house.
Police Officers around the Boone district know when Senior Step Up is; they patrol the streets and neighborhoods waiting for the illegal activities to begin. Parents and students may also know and be up waiting for their house to be attacked by juniors or seniors.
“Senior step up is a good tradition for Boone to have because it brings classmates together. It’s one of the few traditions [our school has] left,” the senior male said.
Senior step up does not have to be a malicious or destructive event. While there are students who use Senior Step Up night as a way to be hurtful, there are also students who hit the houses of their friends; instead of writing cuss words and other profanities on the driveway, they write things like “I love you”, “congratulations”, or “good luck next year”.
“Everyone gets to participate eventually, and it’s so fun. It provides an adrenaline rush,” Figueroa said.
Before participating, students should know what they can and cannot get in trouble for because a criminal record can change one’s life forever.
“Senior step up should be passed on to future generations, the same way it has been in the past. It happens to everyone else and they deal with it. They will do it in a year so making a huge fuss isn’t worth it,” Figueroa said.