TURNER – Five students at Leavitt Area High School were suspended after paddling freshmen as they roamed the halls, school officials said.

“We had a discipline situation. We took care of it,” Principal David Wing said.

Seniors brought two homemade paddles to school and used them to strike freshmen on their backsides, school officials said.

The boards looked like shortened boat paddles and were painted with slogans such as “Freshmen beware” and “Seniors rule,” one senior said. Students said the paddlings happened over two to three days.

School Administrative District Superintendent Tom Hanson said five students were suspended for three to five days after “inappropriate behavior” at the school, attended by about 800 students from Turner, Leeds and Greene.

Hanson said no freshmen were injured during the incidents, which he viewed as harassment, not hazing. The school has closed its investigation. State police said no criminal charges had been filed.

The students who were hit were not identified.

Senior Amanda Angell, 17, said she was suspended for five days for keeping one of the paddles in her locker. A friend asked her to hold on to it because her locker was near a staircase often used by freshmen, she said.

“No, I don’t think it was a good idea,” said Angell, an honor student. “But it wasn’t like I was beating these kids senseless.”

She said she knew of 10 seniors who were involved in the paddling.

“It started off as fun, like a prank,” she said. “We didn’t think it would be a big deal,” she said.

Angell said she did not regret her role in the paddling, which she said was more like tapping than “hard hitting.”

“If I really hurt someone, then I’m really sorry,” she said.