Filler: Life lessons, water balloon-style

Lane Filler is a member of the Newsday editorial board.

By the time they finish 12th grade, approximately 100 percent of students would like to throw water balloons at some of the folks who contributed to their school experience.

They'd like to wing them at the assistant principal who imposed detention 11 times, hurl them at the counselor who suggested a career in "the mopping arts," and lob them at the gal who spray-painted "Kissing you is like eating liver Jell-O" on their lockers.

But most people don't cap their high school career with an orgy of water-balloon tossing, because they're afraid of the consequences. That's why we have consequences -- to keep people from doing things they really, really want to do.

On June 14, some students at East Rockaway High decided to throw water balloons at the school, and the people leaving it, after the last day of the academic year was dismissed. How crazy it got depends on who you ask. It likely was not the gentle, joyous scene the accused have described, nor was it the "Apocalypse Now"-like fury of squishy and damp artillery that officials evoked.

But traffic was disrupted and the principal, assistant principal and a crossing guard were hit. The scene was chaotic, and scary to some of the students.

And the balloon battalion had been warned.

The letter sent home May 5 made it clear anyone who participated in tomfoolery wasn't going to the prom or walking at graduation. The letter sent June 2 made it even clearer.

The students took these letters in one of two ways. The vast majority thought, "I would love to baptize various students and teachers in the balloon broth of my seething resentment, but I'm not going to miss prom, 'cause I already paid for the tux and limo. And if I can't go to graduation, Aunt Gert, whose airline tickets from Ft. Lauderdale cannot be canceled, will tear my head off and punch my spine. And Dad and Mom will cheer her on."

A much smaller group saw the letters and apparently thought, "Whatever. They can't punish me once I graduate. And if they try, Mom and Dad will just straighten it out, like always."

So 14 seniors did miss graduation and prom. (Underclassmen involved will be punished next year.) And many of their parents did lobby to let their kids attend the events, claiming the consequences were too severe for the offense.

If these students made the argument before throwing the water balloons, I might side with them. Had they gone to the district three weeks ago and said: "We really want to have a huge water balloon fight, wreak havoc on traffic, and hit people we don't like in the noggin, but we don't want to miss graduation and prom. What say you lower the penalty to, oh, four hours of community service, and we get to slinging? Work with us here, principal. What's it going to take to put you in a water balloon fight today?"

But no one ever does that.

The promised consequences were actually too lax. If the punishment had been tough enough, the balloons never would have flown. But it's hard to prevent bad behavior by promising tough punishment, because some people think they'll never have to pay.

You can say the parents interceded because their kids were punished for participating in the water balloon fight. In fact, the kids may have participated because they knew their parents would intercede. It didn't work, and for that the district is to be applauded.

Not punishing these students would have been unfair to the ones who behaved -- and, considering how very, very badly most students want to bury their teachers and classmates in a punishing hail, virtually guaranteed serious balloon casualties next year.