Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Teachers told sixth–graders on a field trip to a Tennessee state park last week that a gunman was coming and ordered them to turn off the lights and hide under tables. After five minutes, during which someone in a hooded sweatshirt pulled on the locked doors, the teachers told the trembling students that the whole thing was a prank. “I thought I was going to die,” said 11–year–old Shay Naylor, who estimated that about a third of the 69 children were crying in terror. The teachers said “campfire pranks” were a school tradition, and that most of the kids thought the experience was fun. One teacher and an assistant principal were suspended after some parents complained that the prank was horribly ill–conceived, coming just weeks after the mass murder at Virginia Tech.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meatThe Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human bloodUnder the radar Drugging the bugs
