Herndon High School Prank Led To Ban Of 3 Students From Graduation Despite Twitter Campaign

Thursday was graduation at Herndon High School, but three students who participated in a prank involving baby oil were not part of the festivities despite a Twitter campaign to persuade the Virginia school to let them walk.

The Herndon High School prank involving baby oil on June 6 led to suspensions for six students while three were banned from graduation ceremonies at the Virginia school.

Nobody was hurt at Herndon High School when baby oil was poured on hallways and staircases in the building, intended to cause classmates to slip and slide on the floor. The prank lasted for a brief moment, as they were caught about 5 to 10 minutes after baby oil was applied to the floors.

About an hour after the baby oil was applied, the fire alarm was pulled, although the students involved in the baby oil prank said they were not responsible for the fire alarm incident.

Seniors Chris Shoemaker, Ashkan Naedri and one other student were suspended and banned from yesterday's graduation exercises while three others were just suspended.

Shoemaker said he didn't get to pour any of the baby oil on the floor but Naedri did, according to WUSA.

I left 10 minutes before class and 5 minutes in, I was caught, Naedri told the television station. They violated me. They made me put my hands on the wall and searched me and thought I would be hiding big bottles of oil.

Shoemaker, 18, apologized to Herndon High School principal William Bates on Monday, the Washington Post reported.

I feel I should definitely have been punished, and I definitely did something wrong, and somebody could have gotten hurt, Shoemaker told the paper.

The 18-year-old was an honors student and his father said he was deserving of walking on stage during graduation and receiving his diploma.

I think graduation should be a reward for 13 years of being a good student, said Bob Shoemaker, who told Reston Patch that the prank was an ill-conceived idea.

This showed very poor judgment, he said of the pranksters. My son is remorseful. He offered several times to clean it up. No doubt, it was a dumb thing to do. They did not have any malicious intent. They did not think through the potential for danger.

Naedri also apologized for the prank.

I'm really sorry for what I did. I'll make a public apology. I just wish they'd let me walk, he told WUSA. All I wanted to do at the end of the day is walk across the stage with the class I came in with.

The Herndon High School prank incident led many to question whether the severity of the punishment fit the offense as supporters of the pranksters mounted Twitter campaigns using the hashtags #letthemwalk and #letthemwalk2012.

The punishment was BS... #lettheboyswalk2012, tweeted user @cpapa_14.

c'mon, #LetTheBoysWalk2012! you only walk once! #YOWO, wrote Berny Abadias.

Not everyone was on the side of the pranksters, however.

Please DON'T #LetTheBoysWalk2012. It was a dangerous prank, no matter if someone got hurt or not. #Nova, opined user @SashasMafia.