Tuesday, April 8, 2014
April Fool's Prank on College Professor
Students at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan decided to play an April Fool's joke on their Economics professor. Their professor's name is Stephen Barrows, and he has a very strict rule when it comes to phone calls in the classroom. His rule is that if student's cell phone rings while in class, they must answer it on speakerphone for the rest of the class to hear. This prank, which was invented by some of his students to poke fun at the "no phone call" rule, has gone viral, and has been viewed more than 16 million times. For this joke, a female's cell phone rang in class, so she answered it on speakerphone--nothing out of the ordinary. However, things got interesting after the person at the other end of the line claimed that he was from the Pregnancy Resource Center. At the end of the call, when the girl announces the baby-to-be's name, is when Professor Barrows realizes that the phone call was an April Fool's joke.
Do you think this was an appropriate April Fool's prank? Would you play a prank like this on one of your strict professors? I thought that this joke was both appropriate and very funny. I think that some professors are too strict in their rules, such as this professor. The students from this college were creative in coming up with this prank because they knew the rules about answering phone calls in class. They also knew that their professor would get embarrassed about making a student answer such a private call on speakerphone. This prank was harmless, but it still caused the professor some embarrassment. Overall, I thought this was a good April Fool's prank!
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Yes, I do think it is an appropriate April Fool’s prank because no harm was done, and it lighted up the mood in a strict and boring class. I am not sure if I would play a prank on one of my professors by myself. I think April Fool’s pranks are more fun when the entire class is involved like the economics class in the youtube video. I think that professor Barrows will remember this prank for years to come, and may think twice about having a student answer their phone on speaker the next time one rings in class.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a very good April Fool's prank. I could not imagine how embarrassed the professor must felt but it was only for a short amount of time. I think that it might make him re-think is strict rule of making kids answer their phone on speaker if it rings. Even though this was a entirely thought through joke something like this could really happen to a student or something similar especially on a college campus. I do not agree with the rule because you never know who could be calling and it could be someone with confidential information about medical test results or anything. Although it is frowned upon to have your phone ring in class, I don't think you're privacy should be jeopardized because you forget to turn your ringer off.
ReplyDeleteI thought this prank was hilarious! I think it was very clever of the class to come up with something like that and I'm glad he started to feel bad half way through the phone call and immediately began apologizing right after to her. His face when she told him it was a joke was priceless and I thought this was a completely harmless prank! I'm actually surprised that he didn't see it coming on April Fool's Day, especially if he has strict policies on cell phone use during class. Yes, I think some professors should be more lenient on cell phone use in class. And yes, I know it is really sad for our generation if we can't put our cell phones away during a 1 hour lecture. But I think there are certain circumstances to be made. I know I am constantly getting phone calls from my work that I need to take, so I think they should be less strict on that. As long as the student communicates earlier that he or she will have to take a phone call, I think it should be fine. Overall, I think this was a very funny prank!
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw this I laughed so hard! I think the students of the class know professor really well and that is why it is appropriate and harmless. When I saw this I automatic thought of the teachers that would go for this kind of prank and not care. I also thought of some teacher that would care though and think it is very inappropriate. The cell phone policy is a little strange to me. I can see teachers giving out quizzes if you phone rings but to put you conversation on speaker so everyone can hear it, that a little bit too much in my opinion. I think the teacher realized after the prank that putting your conversation on speaker phone is a little bit too much because it might be a very private conversation. I want to know if the teacher will change his cell phone policy now.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was such a funny April Fool's prank. Playing a prank like that on a strict professor would be hilarious to watch. I'm not so sure I would ever do this myself but I would love to watch it all happen! Some professors do not take jokes very well so seeing his reaction would be priceless. This was definitely a memorable moment for the professor and the entire class I'm sure. Years from now I bet they will still remember it clear as day and it will make for a really good story even if the professor seemed mad at the time. I understand that some professor's are very strict on the no cell phone policy and others, not so much, but depending on how long the lecture is, I think maybe in some cases it shouldn't be so strict. I also agree with this prank being appropriate and funny. This was a very unoriginal April Fool's prank considering the prank itself had to have been time consuming to come up with. I can only imagine how embarrassing it would be to have to answer a phone call with everyone being able to listen and I think this prank was perfect because the professor was not expecting that to happen. Overall, I think this was a great prank and I really enjoyed your blog!
ReplyDeleteI think this was a very funny prank, and I think the initiative brought up by the students was a great one but I personally can not get involved in such a prank because, I would be scared of the after consequencess and how the teacher may react concerning the prank, but I think it was a good idea as no one was harm and I believer from now on the professor would no longer establishing such a rule because it may happen that one of his sudents may receive a call which is supposed to be private and due to his rule it is made public as this can have so much effects on the student as the student may feel so embarrased that he or she would not like to attend the course as this may affect the students grade.
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