Doing Pranks, making videos, posting them on Social Media: Is it socially, morally justified?

A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort. A person who performs a practical joke is called a “practical joker” or “prankster”. Other terms for practical jokes include gag, rib, jape, or shenanigan. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks or hoaxes in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being talked into handing over money or other valuables. Practical jokes are generally lighthearted and without lasting effect; they aim to make the victim feel humbled or foolish, but not victimized or humiliated. Thus most practical jokes are affectionate gestures of humour and designed to encourage laughter. However, practical jokes performed with cruelty can constitute bullying, whose intent is to harass or exclude rather than reinforce social bonds through ritual humbling. Pranks are just about as old as human history. From slapstick schemes to senior pranks, there are pranks for just about every situation. Recently, pranking has become a very popular trend online. People are coming up with all kinds of pranks–everything from scare pranks (startling people), wake-up pranks (waking up people in crazy ways), and drive-thru pranks–just about any situation has become an arena for pranking. The problem is, lots of pranksters end up getting into legal trouble because of their stunts. Sometimes pranks go wrong, resulting in an accident. But other times, the prank itself is actually illegal and the participants are caught by the police. The types of legal violations that can occur during a prank are endless. Even seemingly innocuous pranks are just ripe with potential legal disasters waiting to happen.
How Can a Prank Go Wrong? Some legal violations that can result from a prank include:
Assault: Legal definitions of assault include offensive conduct, not just physical contact. Throwing something can result in assault charges as well
Reckless endangerment
Destruction of property
Disorderly conduct
Criminal conspiracy (common when more than one person is in on the prank)
Various traffic violations and citations
Kidnapping/False Imprisonment (For instance, tying a person up and leaving them somewhere, or transporting them against their will)
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NEID)
Stalking/Harassment
Pranking will always involve some element of deceit and false appearances. Pranks can be pulled off because the victim doesn’t know the true facts behind the circumstances they are presented with.But the thing is, when you’re messing with people’s trust, emotions, and physical expectations, the risk of injury increase greatly. When someone is startled, you never know how they’re going to react. Potential for injury further increases when people start trying to outdo each other in terms of ridiculousness. Central to pranking is the tendency for a single incident to escalate into a prank war.Once one person gets pranked, protocol dictates that they must “get even” with the person. Back and forth retaliation ensues, often until someone gets offended or physically hurt. This is often how the line of what is acceptable gets crossed.
SWATTING: Take for example one of the more extreme pranks I’ve read about: “Swatting.” This is where the prankster calls the police requesting that they send a SWAT team to a certain location, usually the victim’s house. The caller will falsely state that they witnessed a criminal situation, causing the police to come crashing into the person’s house. Filing a false police report is illegal in itself. But calling in a SWAT team? That is way over the line and can endanger someone’s life and lead to all kinds of property destruction. What’s my take on all this? Don’t get involved with pranking, and don’t get sucked into a prank war. One of the worst parts about pranking is that it usually starts as a game or an over-exaggerated joke. It’s definitely not worth going to jail or getting slapped with a fine just for a practical joke. People are getting fines ranging in the $1,000’s of dollars, or going to jail for a year, all for a few laughs or “Internet fame.” I think this one trend that needs to go away as soon as possible. Ultimately, pranks ignore the fundamental truth that living can be hard, and most people are trying to do their best. Our lives are a series of relative victories and minor defeats, with occasional eruptions of love, life, and loss. It is impossible to know what someone is going through. So today, before you think of doing a prank, ask yourself how it might affect someone who may in a state of despair. The point is that, as a prank happens, the victim is thrown into temporary crisis. Why would you want to add more bad moments to someone else’s life? There’s a pretty simple way to tell if a joke is offensive: If the punchline is the victim, the joke is probably bad. Pranks take this one step further. They not only laugh at the victim, pranks create a victim for the sole purpose of laughing at them.
(The author a teacher by profession is presently posted at Govt High School Brakpora Anantnag. Views are his own)
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