A Wilmot Township high school student is in hot water after tweeting what he says is a harmless joke.

Ty Stemmler was suspended after stating that local teachers would be on the picket lines come Monday.

A tweet meant to get some laughs from classmates, got Stemmler suspended for 3 days.

“Truly, I wasn’t trying to do anything malicious, I was just being a teenager, and trying to make a joke and it took off,” said Stemmler.

The tweet, which has since been deleted, had the school board logo and said a teacher strike would be official May 4, 2015.

Teachers at Stemmler’s school, along with high school teachers in publics schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board are in a legal strike position as of May 4, however the union says they are still negotiating.

“The teachers thought it was real too, and then I heard that there was real uproar in the staff room and all of this stuff because teachers thought the school board wasn’t telling them,” said Stemmler.

“In a secondary school situation, where labour relations have been tense for some time, I can imagine that the negotiations are meant to stay open, and one side doesn’t want to accuse the other of fomenting strike talk,” said Aimee Morrison, a social media expert.

Morrison says people fail to realize how pranks can go viral on social media, and the damage they can cause.

“I don't know how it’s going to go, I’m thinking, I want to apologize on here, and then I also wanted to apologize at school to some of the teachers and just make sure, clear the air,” said Stemmler.

Lynsey Meikle, Communications Officer with the school board, said the following to CTV News:

"In general, we have procedures that are used if there are questions about student behaviour, which include consequences that escalate based on the frequency of behaviour and/or the seriousness of the behaviour. A suspension is a consequence for behaviour that would be viewed as serious. As well, the board has both policies and procedures regarding the responsible use of technology, which guide decisions around the appropriate consequences if there are infractions."

Stemmler plans to appeal the suspension to take it off of his record.