# High school senior pulls yearbook photo prank. Are the charges excessive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946 "2016-05-04T21:57:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/121 "2016-05-10T23:53:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Sometimes nudity is meant to be funny, not pervy. Yeah, one supposes that might be true. However, what matters isn’t how the weenie-wagger meant his wagging. What manners is how his unwilling audience reacts to his wagging. I mean, someone could take a shit on your living room sofa _meaning_ to be funny, but are you going to take it that way? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/122 "2016-05-11T00:05:00Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Couple things are wrong here, like most of what you post. Facts in attendance… > > 1. I’ve know that what we all did was, to repeat, stupid, immature, silly, short-sighted and insensitive. That’s why I never did it again and have said so since the beginning. You trying to paint that as anything besides what I’ve stated, is part of the same delusion that allows you to believe there’s no difference between one lie and a liar. > > 2. Of course your response is emotional. It certainly isn’t factual or rational, so I’m glad that you’ve owned up to at least one thing in this thread. Keep up the good work and you might hit two before the night is out. > > 3. I appreciate that my disapproval of _your_ beliefs has now got you commenting on my ass and tits. For some reason, that delights me to no end. If you need more fodder for later, hon, just let me know. > > 4. And finally, you have demonstrated no good opinions for me to give any weight. Do you ever have any? Hey, you’re the one that came into the thread bringing your own personal flashing story with you and requested my input on it. You are also the one who described yourself as > [@](#): > > a woman who is well endowed . Right now, I’m not sure what you think you are accomplishing by puffing up with personal outrage. See, if you post something, it is open for comment. You posted about yourself. If you didn’t want to be commented on, you shouldn’t have made yourself the topic of conversation. See how that works? My personal opinion is that if I had made the “mistake” of flashing any of my private bits in public and actually considered it an embarassing mistake that I regret and would prefer be forgotten, I probably wouldn’t bring it up on a message board with readers all over the world. OTOH, if I actually considered the whole incident rather deliciously _naughty_, I might stealth brag about it on a board or two through faux contrition. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/123 "2016-05-11T01:45:20Z")
You’re a real prince, you know that? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/124 "2016-05-11T01:59:51Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Hey, you’re the one that came into the thread bringing your own personal flashing story with you and requested my input on it. You are also the one who described yourself as . Right now, I’m not sure what you think you are accomplishing by puffing up with personal outrage. See, if you post something, it is open for comment. You posted about yourself. If you didn’t want to be commented on, you shouldn’t have made yourself the topic of conversation. See how that works? My personal opinion is that if I had made the “mistake” of flashing any of my private bits in public and actually considered it an embarassing mistake that I regret and would prefer be forgotten, I probably wouldn’t bring it up on a message board with readers all over the world. OTOH, if I actually considered the whole incident rather deliciously _naughty_, I might stealth brag about it on a board or two through faux contrition. Nah, it was simply an attempt to reason with someone who that is beyond their capabilities. Had I known that before hand, I would’ve used my time more productively, like teaching blind people to drive. And it’s not that it’s so deliciously naughty, it’s that I don’t take your faux outrage seriously. Being an exhibitionist = due to degree, possibly serious. Silly dude on the internet who thinks all sins, even a first and only offense, are equal = not only not serious, but to be made light of for being so ridiculous. Also, in case you continue to confuse explanations of one’s past as a “stealth brag,” remember not everyone is stuck in the mindset that you seem to share with your school kids. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/125 "2016-05-11T02:15:33Z")
Alright, time out. **faithfool** and **Scumpup** in particular, feel free to take your present discussion to the Pit, if you must, but at this point, you two are attacking each other and not really in the neighborhood of the topic at hand any longer. And **Scumpup** , it’s very hard not to read some of what you’re posting in here as deliberately misreading and/or misrepresenting what other people are saying. Knock it off. The topic of this thread is whether a particular prank warranted the charges that were being put forward. Analogies to personal experiences can make sense in that vein, but that doesn’t make it appropriate to turn the thread into personal attacks. Please stay on topic. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/126 "2016-05-11T02:31:22Z")
My apologies. As described, that was skating closer to the line than I realized. I’ll bow out then, as my point has been made anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/127 "2016-05-11T06:36:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Way to back me up on that “deranged” observation there, **pup**. Read it in Church Lady’s voice. It kills!!! ETA: Apologies as I just saw Asimovian’s message. Please delete as you see fit. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/128 "2016-05-11T10:08:09Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, it doesn’t have to be just a simple line. They could get slightly whimsical and flamboyant. It could be a wang-doodle. [Whangdoodle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_the_Really_Great_Whangdoodles)? Anyhoo…I’m still of the view that this needs to be punished as a “stupid prank”, not “full-on sex offense”. Restitution for any returned and replaced yearbooks (not _all_ of them - I’m guessing a number of classmates will want to keep their copies) plus a couple of weekends spent litter-picking on the school grounds or something similar ought to drive home the message that stupid pranks have consequences without ruining the kid’s entire life. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/129 "2016-05-11T13:41:49Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Read it in Church Lady’s voice. It kills!!! > > ETA: Apologies as I just saw Asimovian’s message. Please delete as you see fit. Well isn’t that special… ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/130 "2016-05-11T14:14:24Z")
Back to the topic, this happens alot in class group pictures where some kid will flash some sort of sign and you might have to look under a microscope to find it but they do it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/131 "2016-05-11T14:29:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh for fuck’s sake, you have GOT to be kidding me. Seriously, going from “ha ha, dude, let’s see if they’ll catch this!” and outright rape. :rolleyes: > > Good god, as I stated before, my uncle once mooned his neighbor, who was a long time _friend_. He was just a joker. > > Some of you need some perspective. What the kid did was crass, yes. Criminal? Perverted? C’mon. What the streaking fad back in the 70s? Sometimes nudity is meant to be funny, not pervy. I’m talking about the fact that there are no repercussions to his actions. Campus rapists get away with this shit because women see very few people get punished and don’t report because what’s the point. And if you think athletes in college don’t get away with a lot of shit, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I’m not saying it’s necessarily the same people who would pull these pranks and who engage in worse behavior. I thought that was clear in what I said. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/132 "2016-05-11T14:37:01Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m talking about the fact that there are no repercussions to his actions. . No repercussions? Kid is 18 & just getting started in life and his NAME and picture are all over the internet for this stupid stunt. Every potential employer who googles his name will discover this. Also AFAIK he is still being charged with multiple misdemeanors. To say he got off unscathed is naive. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/133 "2016-05-11T14:59:47Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m talking about the fact that there are no repercussions to his actions. Campus rapists get away with this shit because women see very few people get punished and don’t report because what’s the point. And if you think athletes in college don’t get away with a lot of shit, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. > > I’m not saying it’s necessarily the same people who would pull these pranks and who engage in worse behavior. I thought that was clear in what I said. So as I understand it your point is that although he hasn’t done anything significant wrong he should have repercussions because otherwise rapists will think there are no repercussions for committing rape. Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/134 "2016-05-11T16:01:11Z")
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the concept that the very \*sight \*of a body part is so offensive as to cause emotional trauma. Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty good example of prudishness. I hope in a another life time - god knows it won’t be this one- I’ll see the day when people laugh at our puritanical notions of obscenity the way we laugh at the Victorians who were scandalized by the mere sight of a woman’s ankle. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/135 "2016-05-11T18:33:41Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the concept that the very \*sight \*of a body part is so offensive as to cause emotional trauma. Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty good example of prudishness. I hope in a another life time - god knows it won’t be this one- I’ll see the day when people laugh at our puritanical notions of obscenity the way we laugh at the Victorians who were scandalized by the mere sight of a woman’s ankle. I certainly got a bad case of the vapors when I saw the uncensored photo that I had to hunt down. Luckily my hand fan and fainting couch were nearby. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/136 "2016-05-11T19:57:40Z")
Maricopa County? As in the count that keeps re-electing that dictator Joe Arpaio? No wonder its excessive, sounds just like them ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/137 "2016-05-11T20:02:19Z")
Well personally I think the way to deal with this is for an editor and school principal to go over class pictures with a microscope, find such things, punish the student (quietly) and then edit it out with software. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/138 "2016-05-11T21:23:47Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I hope in a another life time - god knows it won’t be this one- I’ll see the day when people laugh at our puritanical notions of obscenity the way we laugh at the Victorians who were scandalized by the mere sight of a woman’s ankle. Yep, it’s almost _exactly_ that prudish. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/139 "2016-05-12T03:47:55Z")
Funny thing, I grew up (like many of us, I guess) at a time when things were getting less prudish; through the late sixties, seventies and onward. I remember a documentary on Australian swimwear called (I’ve just googled it) “From Neck-to-Knee To Nude” which traced the seemingly relentless diminution in the amount of fabric in Australian swimwear (same as most other warm Western nations I guess). It came out in 1985 apparently. As a man who is not exactly averse to the female form I wasn’t disappointed by the trend 😉 But of course I was being naïve; what is old is new again and these things are cyclic not linear. Things are getting slowly more and more prudish. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946/140 "2016-05-12T11:12:57Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It could be a wang-doodle. That’s Numberwang! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-school-senior-pulls-yearbook-photo-prank-are-the-charges-excessive/753946.md?page=8)