Four dozen eggs, nine rolls of toilet paper, 26 cans of silly string. This is a typical Oct. 30 shopping list for a certain group of mischief-makers.
To some, Oct. 30 is just Hallow’s Eve, a call for hours of costume preparation and plan making. To others, this night provides an excuse to go out and pull pranks around town once the sun has set.
Dubbed “Mischief Night,” the night before Halloween is a tradition amongst teenagers, reserved for pranking houses, vandalizing property, and committing crimes.
While some Staples students admit to taking part in Mischief Night at one point in their life, they often call pranks on this night “innocent.”
“I used to toilet paper houses with my friends every Mischief Night,” Gabriella Rizack ’13 said.
In the past, pranks have not been limited to justWestporthomes. In fact, Assistant Principal Richard Franzis recalls vandalism at Staples on Mischief Night.
“We used to have a grade level assistant who actually volunteered to spend all night on campus in their car,” Franzis said.
Staples is not alone in the crackdown on security on this particular night; the Westport Police Department also employs extra officers on Mischief Night.
“We have plain-clothed detectives out in parked cars and extra people on the roads, especially because it’s a holiday weekend,” said Westport Youth Detective Serenity Dobson.
For participating students, Mischief Night is a time of excitement.
“Nobody is going to hear about minor pranks people did with their friends,” Jack Scott ’14 said. “People are going to tell stories about insane things they did on Mischief Night, and then it will spread.”
Although some students choose not to participate in the evening festivities, word of other pranks spreads around school quickly.
Some students even set a personal goal to pull at least one prank that will be remembered for years to come.
“One time, my friend and I wrapped up and taped two oranges under the Minuteman statue,” an anonymous junior boy said, in describing how he took two piece sof fruit and attached them to theWestportmonument’s groin.
It is tradition to wait until darkness falls to begin pulling pranks, but the police department expects teens out even before this time.
“Once it starts getting dark, in the evening hours between nine and 12 are the hours we expect most crimes to be committed,” Dobson said.
If a student does get in trouble with the police department, the school may be informed, depending on the severity of the crime and whether an arrest was made.
This year, Mischief Night falls during Homecoming weekend, worrying certain Staples administrators.
“We are especially concerned when ‘Mischief Night’ falls on the week of our Homecoming Game, which it does this year,” Franzis said.
That said, according to Franzis, Staples will not formally warn students about the consequences of their actions on Mischief Night.
“Informally, we might tell our students to be safe and careful on that particular weekend, but that is more of a pre-Homecoming message than it is a Mischief Night weekend,” Assistant Principal Patrick Micinilio said.
“I definitely know people that have plans for Mischief Night this year,” Scott said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if the Monday after, everyone is talking about a stupid thing one kid did. I’m actually kind of expecting it this year.”
