2020-03-28_The_Week_Junior_UserUpload.Net

8 The Week Junior• 28 March 2020

Thebig debate

Nowthatyou’vereadabit moreabout it,tell us whatyouthinkby voting in

our poll attheweekjunior.co.uk/polls.VoteYESif youthink April Fool’s Day

pranks arefunny orNOif youdon’t.We’ll publish theresultsnextweek.

Whatdoyouthink?

AreApril Fool’s pranksfunny?

F

ittinglyfor aday of pr anks, noonereally knows

how AprilFool’s Daystarted. One theory is that it

comes fromastoryinThe CanterburyTales,which

were written in the 14thcenturybyEnglish poet

Geoffrey Chaucer. In onetale,afox playsatrick on a

rooster on1April. Another theory is that it startedin

1564 ,whenFrancechangedthe date of new year,

whichusedtobecelebratedatt he end of March, to

1January .Thosewho celebrated it on1Aprilwere

called AprilFools.Ormaybe it beganearlierwith the

Romans. At the end of Marchtheyheld afestival

called Hilaria,which comes from theLatin for

cheerful.Onthis day, everything people didwas

meant to be joyful–but could be therebetterways

to celebrate1April?Are AprilFool’spranksfunny?

Yes–pranks areagoodwaytospread joy

What is better than making people laugh?Aday

dedicated to bringingsmilesand jo yisagreat idea,

andit’satraditionthat many people love and look

forwardto. If the pranksare not mean-spirited or

cruel then theycan makepeople happy. Pranking

people on AprilFool’sDay means thatmost people

areexpectingit, so peoplereally have to think about

theprank and get creative tomakesomeonefall for

it.Ithas to be wellthought outand thoroughly

planned, otherwiseitwon’t work.Also,iti sanice

ideatot hink that on the same day people around the

countryare alljoking and laughing together.Evenif

youare the onewho gets fooled, it’sgood to learn not

to takeourselves too seriously all thetime.

No–it’scruel to laugh at people

Pranksare notfunny. Theyusually involve making

someonelookfoolish and thenlaughing at them. This

is not very nice. It is difficult to judgewhat one person

will find funny and whatothers will think is just mean.

Also, the dayitself has no significance, and no one

knows howits tarted. Specialdays of th eyearshould

be usedtomark important occasionssuch as

RemembranceSunday (whichiswhen weremember

those who died inwars), or tocelebrate the

beginning ofanew year.Instead of trying to trick

people and make themlook silly, why don’tpeople

spendthe timedoing something kind or helpful for

someone?That wouldbeamuch bettercelebration

and would makepeople happierfor longer.

●AprilFool’s Dayison1April. It isaday

when people play pranksoneachother

and try tocome up with wildstories or

tricks to fool people.

●It is celebrated each year around the

world. In theUK, ne wspapers,radio

stationsand TV news channels usually

featur edeliberately silly stories to try to

catch people out.

●On 1April1957, the BBCplayed what is

believed to be thefirst everApril Fool’s

Day prank on TV.Itp retendedthat

spaghettiwasgrown on treesin

Switzerland. (It’sreally made from flour

and eggs or water.) Spaghettiwasnot as

common in the UK as it is now,and many

viewersbelieved the outlandish story.

Whatyouneedtokn ow

Some peoplelovetoshareajokeonthis

daybut othersarenot as amused.

LAST WEEK’S POLL

Last week, we asked if people should

use reusable toiletroll to help the

environment. Plenty

of yo uwerein

favour,but the

majo rity felt

that reusable

roll wasjust

too gross.

1

Prankscan be veryfunny if they arenot cruel

or mean.

2

AprilFool pranksneed to be top qualityfor

people tofall forthem. Most peopleare

expectingsomething,soi t’sgot to be good.

3

It’sgoodtohaveaday when everyonecan

get involved and shareajoke–even if you’re

the one who isfooled.

1

Pranksaren’t funny because they usually end

up makingsomeonelook silly.Not everyone

findsthe same things amusing.

2

AprilFool’sDay hasnosignificance. Special

daysoft he yearshould only beforsomething

important, suchasEaster or new year.

3

Instead offooling someone,why not spend the

time doing somethingkind fortheminstead?

Threereasons why April Fool’s Day

pranks arefunny

Threereasons why April Fool’s Day

pranks arenot funny

GETTY IMAGES

YES NO

Pickingspaghetti

fromatree...

61%

NO

39%

YES

DIDYOU

KNO

W?

In France, April

Fool’s Da

yis

calledP

oissond

’Avril, which

means April fish.

This ma

ybe

becaus

efish in spring are

young and

easyto

catch.

The aim of the Big debatepage isto present two sides of an issuefairly and

objectively,inorder to stimulatediscussion and allow ourreadersto makeuptheir

minds. The views on the page do notreflect those ofThe Week Junior,and the page

is no tfunde dbythirdparties. The page is createdinassociation

with the English-Speaking Union, an educational charity helping

young people discovertheir voiceand realise their full

potential.Formoreinformation, please see esu.org