The Worst Year 13 Pranks in Aotearoa History

Did Some Go Too Far?

Ah, Year 13 Prank Week —The one week where students give some much-needed payback to a school that has practically held them hostage for five years.

From topless motorbike riders to large-scale phallic vandalism, and even attempted kidnappings, Aotearoa has seen some wild pranks pulled off by their high-school graduates.

Six Shirtless Motorcyclists: Waikato Diocesan School, 2017

War broke out between two Hamilton schools, Waikato Diocesan for Girls and Hamilton Boys’ High School, in 2017 after a prank from the all-girls school resulted in a grisly injury for a boy.

According to NZHerald, six senior students from the Diocesan school donned shoes, helmets, go-pros and their underwear, and hopped on three motorbikes. With two girls on each motorbike sitting back-to-back, the girls rode to the nearby all-boys school and rode around the school’s field at high speeds during lunchtime.

The prank quickly turned gruesome when one 17-year-old, Kyle Kirsten, was in the midst of a soccer game and didn’t realise what was happening until it was too late. The boy was struck by one of the motorbikes and was left with a wound deep enough that the bone in his shin was exposed.

Kyle’s father, Glenn Kirsten, was surprisingly understanding of the accident and did not want to press charges, stating, "The main thing is that the girls didn't mean him any malice. They were having a bit of fun, and it’s turned into an accident but it's nothing major."

Despite this, the girl who drove the motorbike that injured Kyle would later plead guilty in court to careless driving. Hamilton Boys’ retaliated to the prank by sending their own G-string-clad students to egg the girls’ school.

Stolen Cones: Waihi College, 2020

In 2020, a group of students from Waihi College spent an entire night stealing every road cone they could find between Waihi and Bethlehem (around 55km), according to an anonymous source which contacted Massive.

Without communicating with the rest of their year group, the students allegedly stole around 100 road cones.

Miraculously, the anonymous group pulled their prank off, and when Waihi College students arrived the next day, they were greeted with a fuckton of road cones littering the entryway and staff parking lot of the school.

The prank proved to be a success at first, with multiple people posting about it online and even the representatives of the school seeming somewhat understanding of the act.

But the source claims things went south when a very angry council member got wind of the prank. The councilor went to the school and explained just how much money the stolen road cones were worth.

The school’s faculty quickly changed their tune after the visit from the council. The group responsible for the theft were excused from school for the remainder of the day to go and return each and every cone they had stolen.

Waihi College was contacted for a response on this prank, however, did not provide one.

Dick in the Grass: Tawa College, Hamilton Boys, Nelson College

Students at multiple schools across New Zealand have marked the shape of a penis into their school’s grass.

Two anonymous sources tell Massive that in 2015, senior boys at Tawa College burned a penis into the school field by the main entrance with weed killer prior to Prince Charles visiting the school.

The initial prank took place a few weeks before the now King was scheduled to arrive, which left the school with little to nothing that could be done to cover the act up.

The school allegedly tried to paint the penis shape green to make it fit in, but it made it stand out more. The school was left with no choice but to wait months for the grass to grow back. Tawa College was contacted for a response on this, however, did not provide one.

Nelson's turn at the prank in 2015. Photo / *Stuff*

According to Stuff, Hamilton Boys’ left a dick shape in the grass in 2009 when the Google Maps satellite orbited over the school and captured it for millions to see. Nelson College also did the same prank in 2015 on the main field.

FOR SALE: Kuranui College, 2014

Kuranui College made headlines after staff and students arrived one sunny 2014 morning to find ‘FOR SALE’ signs all around the school grounds.

With details about the sale being used to build ‘funds for a new van’ and coming with ‘all buildings and students’ included, the signs were carefully crafted to be as authentic and convincing as possible.

And convincing they were, as even some teachers at the college were concerned that their employment was at risk upon first seeing the bold letters of the signs.

The ‘FOR SALE’ signs were largely met with good cheer and understanding from the faculty, with the principal at the time, Geoff Shepherd fondly stating that it was a “nice feeling” to see the students dedicating their last formal day at school to having harmless fun.

However, in the years since then, Kuranui College has taken a much stricter viewpoint on end-of-year senior pranks. One anonymous graduate told Massive that restriction came after the faculty attempted to supervise and control the prank committed by the class of 2023, and were still unable to stop one student from slipping away to douse the school’s door handles in copious amounts of lube.

Attempted Kidnapping: Auckland Grammar, 2006

By far one of the most egregious high school pranks to have taken place in Aotearoa occurred in 2006, when three Auckland Grammar students attempted to kidnap three female St Cuthbert’s College students, according to NZHerald.

The three boys from Grammar were videotaped jumping out of a van in hoods and chasing the young St Cuthbert’s students for several metres until they eventually reached their school’s grounds, before eventually relenting and returning to the van.

As the van was driving away, the boys told the girls that the act had just been a prank, which the headmaster of Auckland Grammar at the time said was debatable.

The headmaster said that he and his deputy had apologised to just one of the girls’ fathers, and the male students apologised to the headmistress of St Cuthberts.

Grammar’s headmaster even went as far as to say that because the attempted kidnapping had taken place on a Sunday morning, the responsibility for the act therefore lay with “the parents as opposed to the responsibility of Auckland Grammar”. He was also not surprised the police were not pressing charges against the Grammar students, as "the police understood and saw what was involved”.

One of the girls, Hannah Kiely, said that she had experienced many sleepless nights after the event and that she “just wanted it to go away”. Her father, Anthony Kiely, was furious that charges hadn’t been pressed against the male students and called their prank “stupid” and “pathetic”.