CARLISLE - Boiling Springs High School officials said yesterday that a letter informing parents that the school would provide seniors with hotel rooms and condoms on prom night was a prank.
The letter, written on South Middleton School District letterhead and mailed to about 175 homes, fooled parents and students alike.
"A lot of the parents flipped out about it. I was assuming it was the real thing. I was completely in shock that the school was doing this," said Boiling Springs senior Sean McDermott.
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The letter went on to say: "We realize students may participate in reckless physical behavior. As a result of this knowledge, the school will be renting a limited amount of hotel rooms for private parties. Throughout the dance, we will also be distributing a 'Bubbler Condom Care Package' containing free condoms and a brochure about the dangers of unprotected sex."
It also requested that donations of condoms and sexual aids be dropped off at the school office.
"When I got to the words 'motion lotion,' I was, like, right! A kid wrote this," said Sean's mother, Mary McDermott.
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"A lot of the students just think it's a funny joke," said Sean McDermott.
Before he caught on, the student representative on the South Middleton School Board, an outspoken teen abstinence advocate, was preparing a countermeasure.
"I was getting ready to hand out abstinence [literature] at the prom," he said.