--- title: Cruel pranks and where the line is — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Cruel pranks and where the line is», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Some kids in Year 5 told Callum there was a party at the park on Saturday. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Cruel pranks and where the line is # Cruel pranks and where the line is Lesson 439 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 41 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/0/) — Some kids in Year 5 told Callum there was a party at the park on Saturday. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/2/) — Nobody came — they had made it up to laugh at him. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/3/) — Callum went home in tears, his mum told the school, and the head said: «That's not a prank. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/4/) — That's cruelty.» A prank is cruel when only one person gets hurt and everyone else laughs. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/5/) — That is bullying in a costume. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/6/) — A teacher in Cork gave her class three tests for any prank. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/7/) — Does everyone laugh, including the one pranked? - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/8/) — Can it be undone easily? - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/9/) — Would you be happy if it was done to you? - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/10/) — The class tried them on ten real pranks, and half failed. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/11/) — Big kids in Glasgow sent wee Lewis to ask the shopkeeper for «a tin of tartan paint»; there is no such thing, the shopkeeper played along, and Lewis laughed too when he got it — next year he sent a younger kid for «a long stand». - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/12/) — That old joke passes the tests. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/13/) — Many others don't. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/14/) — Bodies are not toys. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/15/) — Jake saw a chair-pulling prank in a funny video and pulled the chair away as his mate sat down; his mate hit his head on the floor and had to go to hospital for a check. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/16/) — «That's why it's not funny in real life,» said Jake's mum; prank videos are often set up. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/17/) — Ellie put salt in Olivia's water bottle; Olivia drank a lot before PE, felt sick and had to sit out. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/18/) — Sam told his little cousin that eating a bug would give him a superpower; the cousin ate a woodlouse and cried, and his aunt was raging. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/19/) — Tricking someone smaller into doing something gross or risky is using their trust. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/20/) — Some pranks hurt feelings that don't show. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/21/) — Girls in Leeds sent Mia a fake love note «from» a boy, then read her reply aloud to the class; Mia stayed off school for two days, and it hurt for ages. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/23/) — «We didn't know he minded,» said the mates. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/24/) — If it is always the same target, it is not a joke — watch for fake laughs. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/25/) — Pranks can frighten strangers. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/26/) — Lads in Sydney filmed themselves «pranking» a shop worker by pretending to steal and running; they posted it, the worker was shaking, and when their mums saw it they had to go back and apologise in person. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/27/) — «I didn't think about her at all,» one said. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/28/) — Emma was dared to prank-call a random number; a grandma answered, frightened it was bad news about her grandson. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/29/) — Emma hung up, felt awful and told her mum: «You never know who's on the other end.» - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/30/) — A prank is cruel when only one person is hurt or humiliated and the others laugh; that is bullying. - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/31/) — Three tests for a prank: everyone laughs, including the pranked one; it can be undone easily; you'd be happy if it were done to you. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/32/) — If a prank fails any of the three tests, don't do it. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/33/) — Pulling a chair away as someone sits can cause a fall and a head injury. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/34/) — Prank videos online are often staged; real falls break bones and hurt heads. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/35/) — Putting anything into someone's food or drink without them knowing is not a joke; it could make them ill. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/36/) — Tricking a younger child into eating something gross or doing something risky is using their trust. - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/37/) — Pranks that trick someone into sharing feelings and then laugh at them are deeply cruel. - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/38/) — If the same person is always the target, it is picking on them, even if they laugh along. - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/39/) — «It's just a prank» does not make it okay if the person is scared or humiliated. - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/40/) — Prank calls and fake-crime pranks frighten real people who don't know it's a joke. - [41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/41/) — Some old fool's-errand jokes, like «tartan paint», are a harmless tradition when the person laughs in the end. - [42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/42/) — If you see a cruel prank, don't join in, and tell a grown-up. - ← previous: [Funny pranks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/438-funny-pranks/) - next →: [April Fools' Day](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/440-april-fools-day/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)