A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered the parents of a 14-year-old Nanaimo boy to pay $48,000 in damages for a high school prank.

The incident happened two years ago when the boy decided to play a prank on his friend by attaching his friend's padlock to a sprinkler head inside Nanaimo's Wellington Secondary School, on Vancouver Island.

According to court documents, the prank went awry and he ended up activating his high school's entire sprinkler system, causing extensive damage.

At the centre of the case was a portion of the School Act that states a student and a student's parents can be held liable for damage to school property through negligence or an intentional action.

Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick concluded that if the boy considered his actions, he would have realized that he might have broken the sprinkler, and as a result he is negligent.

Fitzpatrick concluded the law doesn't require constant supervision of 14-year-old students by the school.

She said it's the first time a court has been asked to interpret the section of the School Act that concerns intentionally destroying school property.