April Fools’ Day is a day of playing fun harmless pranks on friends and family. These pranks are supposed to make everyone laugh, not end up in tears.
When planning a prank for April Fools’ Day, it’s important to think about the possible consequences of the pranks you pull and make sure that the pranks are not just fun for you, but fun for everyone involved.
Even when you know the person you are playing a joke on really well, you need to stop and take a moment to think your idea through. Is this safe? Is this mean? Is this inconsiderate? Is it offensive?
Regardless of who you are playing a joke on, it is important to respect personal boundaries and to avoid pranks that cause emotional harm or distress.
When you stop to think about it, there can be a fine line between playing a joke on someone and bullying, and if you cross that line there can be serious consequences. You should always think about the feelings or well being of the people you play those types of pranks on.
For example, there was a prank where a man pretended to propose to his girlfriend with a ring, but when the girlfriend opened the ring box, she was surprised with a note saying “April Fools.” Sure, this may seem funny to the man, but his girlfriend’s feelings were probably very hurt.
And it’s not like it’s hard to be considerate! Vivienne Tarassians ‘28 said, “I have pranked my brother multiple times but I have never made him cry or anything.”
Hurt feelings and broken relationships aren’t the only potential consequences of poorly thought out April Fools’ pranks.
Sometimes, pranks can result in legal consequences. Pranks that cause property damage or personal injury can lead to criminal charges and civil lawsuits.
In an April Fools’ joke gone terribly wrong, a woman participated in a contest at at the restaurant where she worked. Employees were told that the individual who made the most beer sales would win a new Toyota. After winning the contest, the woman was blindfolded and escorted to the restaurant parking lot. However, when her boss removed the blindfold, she found out she had not won a Toyota vehicle. She had won a “toy Yoda.”
She wuit, sued her company, won the lawsuit, and got the amount of money she needed to purchase an actual Toyota.
All the restaurant manager could say was that the whole contest was an April Fools’ Joke.
A more serious incident took place April Fools’ Day 2003 in Columbus, Ohio. An employee of a clothing store called her boss and said the store was being robbed, and she was being held at gunpoint. Then she hung up the phone, fully intending to call her boss right back and shout “April Fools!”
However, as soon as the employee hung up the phone, the boss called 911. When the police got to the store and realized it was a prank, they arrested the employee for disturbing the peace.
If you still want to fully participate in April Fools’ Day, there are many harmless pranks that have a high success rate. One of these is the “upside-down house” prank.
This is when you flip all the objects in your house upside down, like paintings, books, and furniture. The “Upside Down House” prank doesn’t cause physical or mental harm to anyone and is just a silly prank. If you don’t break anything in the process and are prepared to put everything back the way it was, you can all have a good laugh.
You can also pull smaller and less involved pranks like the one Milana Stepanyuk ‘28 experienced with her younger siblings.
“One time, when I was going to sit down at the dinner table, there was a fart cushion!” said Stepanyuk. It was harmless and everyone got a good giggle out of it.
All it takes to be considerate is a little bit of thought. You can still pull pranks, just think about how your prank may affect others before doing it.
Have a Happy April Fools’ Day this year!
