Denying HS Diploma Because of Cheers? Penalty too Harsh?
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070602/...uation_decorum


I know a student at our HS graduation was denied his diploma because he was DRUNK. He had to stay with me one day before he could receive his diploma. :rolleyes: only because I wasn't to see anymore students.

Then going back to the graduation, it was utterly ridiculous. It was one of the most rowdy spectacles I've seen in a long time. Yes, parents and loved ones are excited, but some things were just over the top. I know I saw police taking those bull horns from guests. I thought I was at a football game.

I know as one progresses academically, the requirements for graduates and families are outlined AND ENFORCED.

Where does one draw the line? Is it only okay for HSs?

For the last 5 years, our kids' high school graduation ceremonies have been ruined by cheering. Somehow it's got to be stopped and warnings don't do a thing; neither does issuing invitations. People don't just stop at cheering, they get up and do coordinated dances, wave flags, etc.

Our daughter got 2 degrees from Georgia Southern in the past couple of years. We didn't hear her name either time because of the cheering and dancing going on for the guy before or I think, even 2-3 guys before her. No one has the right to ruin a formal ceremony.

I am all for posting policemen every few feet in the stand if that's what it takes.:mad:

Decorum is very important to me. I don't even attend high school graduations anymore for that reason.

I think it is a bit harsh to make the students receive the punishment such as this. I say escort the offenders out and keep it moving.

Also, the person calling out the names can space the names out until the noise dies down. It's been about five years since I have been to a HS graduation.

Decorum in general has become a lost art in our society, IMO.

It takes too long if you wait like that. We had over 300 graduates. The ceremony was a little more than an hour. I missed most of GA that night. I believe it was the season finale or the week prior to the finale. :rolleyes: :D

If I wasn't working at a HS, there would be no way that I'd attend a graduation. Since my niece is graduating in '09, and I'm not working at a HS ;) , I'll be there with bells on. :D

I have mixed feelings in regards to the situation. I've attended some HS graduations and have been utterly appaled and embarassed.

In one vein, the graduate can't control his/her family from the stage while they are receiving their diplomas, and limiting the number of attendees (through tickets) doesn't guarantee that your family will act like they have some sense.

I don't think the graduate should be penalized for the antics of their family or friends. I'd have to say...warn your family and friends in advance that if they act up or violate any rules of conduct, they could jeopardize the graduate from receiving their diploma.

Now, I've attended graduations where the actual graduates have acted a stone fool. At that point, yes those graduates should be punished. A lot of students feel they can act up at graduation because it's nothing the school can do at that point.

In recollection, when I finished HS (10+ years ago) you didn't receive your diploma that day, you received the cover that the diploma came in, then you'd receive your diploma in the mail in a week to 10 days. So if you had outstanding fees or whatever...your diploma would be held until you took care of that.

This policy doesn't fly for me. I haven't left a graduation yet without my diploma/degree. I REFUSE. I want what's mine the before I leave the premise that day/night. I am not giving the university any extra time to trump up some charges on me. It's been done.

Anyway, I know how out of control HS graduations can be. I can't take them. Some families just go above and beyond what is necessary. However, I can see the flip side as well. Some of these kids may be the first in the family to get a HS diploma. Others, like one of my HS classmates, make it by the skin of their a**es, thus damn near REQUIRING people to cheer. Hell, WE (other graduates) even cut up when one of our classmates' name was called! We had to push, pull, and drag this dude through school! But, most times than not, folks are acting up because they just don't have any decorum.


I attended the law school's graduation a few weeks ago and a few families were a little bit too rowdy for my liking. However, after all the SERIOUS blood, sweat, and tears that it takes to get through law school and the huge achievement that it is, I see why families get excited. While I don't expect MY family & friends to act out too badly, I do want them to represent. This has been a hell of a journey!

I wasn't too fazed by not receiving the actual diploma/degree that day. Because I made sure all matters were handled before I walked across the stage.

I think almost every class had that one that graduated "thank-you laude", or are the first in the family to graduate...it's a proud occasion. However if they have excess of 300 graduates and only a small window of time to go through the activities, I don't see anything wrong with having the friends and family wait until all names are called before they cheer. they did that with all of my graduations to move it along...because i know the graduates don't want to sit there for 6 hours, neither do the guests.

Exactly, there is nothing wrong with the family representing and being proud of your acheivement, but if the school has protocol in place for graduation exercises to ensure that every graduate has their moment to shine, i think the family and friends should respect that.

I'm mixed on this. Mainly because no matter how hard you try, you cannot control your family. I think it's wrong to punish the students - but I would have been totally for the families being unceremoniously(is that a word?) shown the door.

Also, I don't really mind not getting my diploma the day I walk across the stage. When you have hundreds, if not, thousands of graduates, and 2 days to process the paperwork, I can see how it would be just short of impossible to verify everyone's status before graduation.

the cheers for my younger brother at his HS graduation a couple of years ago were long and loud BUT he was a popular (I guess:rolleyes:) and most came from people in his class...if my mom's baby didn't get his diploma that day ya'll woulda seen that chit on CNN....I say this to say that the kids can't control the spectators...just throw the loud ones out and K.I.M...let the students have their day....

I guess I'm a dissenter in this. I think because I always look at it as, everyone isn't accustomed to going to graduation ceremonies for the simple fact that the occassion may have never presented itself in their families. For someone whose family doesn't have a graduate it is a major deal not only because they have graduated, but because it symbolizes the breaking of a generational curse. So why wouldn't they want to cheer, hoop, or holler? Personally, to hell with the status quo of decorum. After all the hell that some people have gone through just to get a diploma or degree, you're darned skippy their families will be there to support them to the fullest.

HOWEVER, I understand that all of this can be done with temperment. You have to know how much is too much. Like if you have rehearsed cheers and songs and start a wave in the stands when your relative's name is called, maybe you're doing too much. However, cheering and thunderous applause in my opinion is okay.

I have not attended a graduation since my brother's h.s. graduation which was fairly decent except for when they called the very popular guy's name who was also a member of a family whose every kid graduated from there (and yes ALL HIS FAMILY WAS THERE), we joked that they prob rented a charter bus to get his family to attend :eek:

My h.s. graduation was horrible in regards to families acting a fool, YES there were alot of air horns...what is worse is when my friend went up to walk, security took away the air horn from the family who kept using it, horrible timing cause right after they mentioned her name the IGNANT folks started booing to no end so it seemed as if she was getting booed :mad:

There was also this one girl...who nobody could stand cause she was just so LOUD and IGNANT, her fam was worse...you couldn't hear the three names after her :eek: Not to mention the graduating gangsters who threw up their signs AS THEY WALKED!!

I agree they should have a policy similar to this one, I think it creates some order, though I know the student cannot control how their folks react, so maybe they should eject the family after their kids name is called? I know when i graduate I want my family to represent though they know how to act! Well most do...I'll keep that crazy aunt away from the ceremony to make the fam look good ;) :D

SO TRUE!

However, decorum goes a long way. That's why many are not familiar with how to "act" in the most simple instances (children and adults). :rolleyes: Someone has to teach those who are not aware.

That's all! There is a time and place for everything. Save some of the behaviors displayed for the parties, crawfish boils and barbeques to follow. :D There isn't anything wrong with a woo hoo, but when folks are stomping in the rafters, ringing the cow bell, etc, it gets to be a bit MUCH.

Now, is this a battle HS and universities want to fight? I don't know.

While the students can't control the families, I bet next year the families will control themselves. And first time HS graduate or not, save the over rowdiness for the family bbq. Plus they signed contracts and were warned of the consequences. So if this is your first graduate, why risk it?

Eight hours of service to the district isn't going to hurt anyone. But the "they can keep it" attitude and the families not owning up to their responsibility in all of this is what gets me. And in the time it will take for that mother try to fight in court the child could have received her diploma by working one day at the district.

And guess what, everything is not about racism.

Agreed...the child and their parents might act right, but that doesn't prevent other family members from acting a fool. Not to mention other students. I know we cheered for other students both in high school and college graduation.

As for the high school diploma itself...i'm sure that it matters a lot to them...however, as someone who couldn't locate my actual high school diploma if my life depended on it...I would tell them to keep it (just so long as you are technically listed as a graduate on transcripts) and keep on moving.

Solution scenarios:

Scenario 1: leave your most buckwild-prone cousins back at home doing final preparations on the post-graduation party back at the house. :D


Scenario 2: School officials should after the initial 2 or 3 "extended applauses," stop the program, have security visibly escort the offenders out of the auditorium.

....a word to the wise is sufficient.

I remember my hs graduation. I asked my family to PLEASE act like they really believed that I was going to graduate in the first place. Sometimes there are those children who graduate "thank you lawdy" and you can understand their holy ghost dancing.

Anyway, they were excited since I was in the Top 10. I can see how parents would be bursting with pride, but when I looked in the stands and saw the signs and my mom wiping the tears from her eyes, I kind of understood their joy and pride.
But there is a time and place for everything. I can't say that when my babies graduate and leave home, I'll be the tamest person in the place. However a rule is a rule and they did sign a contract to behave.

To deny a diploma to a student because of their family's cheers is too harsh in my eyes. Just as my fellow Eagle TonyB said, make examples of a few families and people will get the picture.

Now I say this for outlandish cheering, cheering that would prohibit the next persons name from being able to be fully heard and understood.

Sensible cheering, outside of the standard golf clap, CAN be permitted, IMHO. Sensible being the operative word. I attended my younger brother's high school graduation last week and Lord knows when they called his name, I stood up with tears in my eyes, blew him a kiss and yelled: "That's my baby brother!"

But I did so in a timely fashion...after I had my outburst there were still seconds of silence as they prepared the next student to walk across the stage and receive her own 15 seconds of glory.

In both my HS and college ceremonies I received my paper that day! After all that money and all that time, I'm not leaving the building with just a folder/covering! :p

In HS we received them as soon as we returned our caps and gowns. In college you got yours after the full commencement (which is not where each student walked, that was our pre-commencement)

Looks like the five students without diplomas are going to go to court over it rather than apologize for something that, in some cases, the family claims they didn't even do.
The Daily Herald

In the grand scheme of things, it's really not a big deal, but it is a big deal.

Seeing how some families have 1st generation or rare/sporadic HS graduates, I can see how it is a big deal.

OTOH, the diploma is only a souvenir item, the real item that matters as far as applying for jobs and college is the TRANSCRIPT. If they withhold that because of cheering, that's a whole nother story altogether.

If the school district was to withhold my diploma because someone cheered for me, be it family, friend, or foe, I would tell them in no undertain terms that they could wipe their [tails] with my diploma.

But if the school district withheld my transcripts because of the same offense, I would tell the out loud "See you in court."

And in either event, I would K.I.M.

ETA: If some of these families were really smart, they would be as quiet as a church congregation---ok, bad example (:D), they would be as quiet as a golf tournament crowd on the putting green until the graduate had his diploma IN HAND. Once that diploma was secured by the graduate, then the family could get krunk as all get out, while the graduate quickly exits the stage and auditorium *lol* :p :D

My sister graduated from college today (first in the fam :) ), and needless to say some people acted a straight FOOL up in there, like we did get buckwild but paled in comparison to other folks!

There was a Puerto Rican crew that had at least 10 folks all carrying the Rican flag, a siren, and an instrument (forget what it's called) that makes a rattling sound, when their graduate walked across the stage all hell broke loose!

Another family had a HUGE bell that they rang, I'm talking almost as big as the Liberty Bell LMAO, they rang it from the time their graduate stood up to the time they sat down so we couldn't really hear any of the names, that's just plain ignorant!

I really needed folks to stop actin like the Holy Ghost hit them when their graduate walked across the stage! The family next to us, the mother was yelling "Yeah Tasha thank you JEE-SUS! OOH LAWD THANK YOU ALMIGHTY" then acted like she fainted, she actually hit herself hard on the steps LMAO! the rest of the family got up and danced in the aisle...they had a huge screen up so we could all see the graduates walk up close, their daughter literally walked across stage shaking her head LOL

Another one was really uncalled for, this young lady walked across the stage, an d her boyfriend (think it was her boyfriend), yelled out "Hell yeah! I'm gettin some educated P**** tonight!!" :eek:

and I won't even begin on the Greeks cussin when their frat/soror walked the stage

surprisingly none of the noisy items were confiscated!

OK, I'm going to need you to STOP the lies because I REFUSE to believe this was said, better yet, yelled aloud during the graduation ceremony!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay???? :eek::eek:

Nope, I've heard similar things too unfortunately. I went to my friend's graduation of Saturday, and we had GROWN ASS PEOPLE yelling "Yea! I'm hitting that afterwards!" and "F*** yea! we're going clubbing tonight!"

you can refuse, but this actually happened!

I won't even get into how IGNANT Greeks were at the ceremony!!!! :mad:

I don't believe you. I demand that you tell me which Greeks they were, right this instant.

LMAOOOO!

'Shid, you already know cause I told you I'm not about to get my inbox flooded with messages that read 'you are lyin cause none of my frat/sorors would EVER act in that fashion!"

I heard that one offending fraternity recently had their convention at Smurf Village USA.

I just learned that my cousin WILL be graduating in about three weeks from the hood high school down the block...anyone want me to film the happenings during the graduation..I am certain a whole lotta foolery is gonna go down!

p.s. does anyone in Chicago know if the Chicago Public School board has made any disciplinary amendments to graduation etiquette? I don't want it to be like my h.s. graduation with the gangstas throwing up their signs while walking across the stage with the principal merely smiling :mad:

My thoughts...Very long post sorry!
 

As a relatively recent h.s. grad I can say that there isnt a person in the world who would want to have to deal with me or my mom if they said that I couldnt get my Diploma because some one cheered excessively for me! It'd be some major problems.

While I do understand the frustration of not being able to hear names & see people when at a graduation because the family is actin crazy I think a lot of people (especially in this situation) fail to realize how much all that noise actually means to the graduate. When you've busted your a** and have made it to graduation it feels awesome to know that there are people in the audience who are happy for you, support you, and love you. My h.s. was public and there were hella people there so there was no way that I could see the look on my moms face when I walked across the stage. Now that he's gone I wish that I could have seen the look on my grandads face when i got my Diploma because Im the only one in my generation to go through h.s. to get my Diploma. The only way your fam could show their support during your moment was to yell and scream. It makes the person walkin across the stage feel good to know that people love them. I know that a person close to me who was on their own and put themselves through h.s. (livin on their own & ect.) felt bad because their fam wasnt there to get silly for them. I think they're taking it far to say you cant make nosie and such. I think everyone should be required to clap & make noise for each grad to show community support.

There should be an applause light that they turn on and then the audience claps and then when they turn it off everyone shuts the h*ll up! If people dont want to shut up kick them out. Most of those people will probably gladly go and say "I seen what I had came to see anywayz" on their way out! Hell PARENTS fought (fist fights not even arguments) at the begining of my graduation. Bump cheers ban fighting and cussin each other out! they should also ban all cookware! Im tired of people bringing pots and pans to bang on at graduations.

As far as the noise makers...they should make one time use noise makers (that will only blow once for 5 seconds or somethin) and sell them at the graduation and not allow people to bring their own. (they would also have 2 put a one per person limit on them b/c i know negros who'd buy ten of them just to act a fool) I think what is most important at graduation is making sure that the students (all of them not just the "popular" ones or ones with ignant families) feel special and enjoy their special day.

At my grad school graduation, my family was the first to get on their feet and cheer when I received my degree, and you should have seen the smile that spread across my face when they did. The school provost even commented, "You have a lot of folks out there to support you." I was like, "Yup!" They were trendsetters because quite a few people after them did it. However, it wasn't being ignant for the sake of being ignant. It was a show of support and pride in what I had accomplished. In fact, I would have been upset had they not. Grad school was a long, hard road!

One of the grad's mothers was speaking to him in their language from the balcony of the hall. She was trying to get him to fix his shirt collar or something. The entire audience cracked up at that one; she was so cute.

I am all for genuine displays of support without school regulation. However, just like with most stuff, folks get carried away or try to show out; that's when these unfortunate displays happen and mess it up for everybody.

At my hs graduation, all the kids worked at McDonald's etc. and stole the happy meal beach balls, where they blew them up and started bouncing them around.

You should have seen my Soror Mom ;) she had NEVER seen that happen in her life!!! The someone blew up a "blow up doll" and my Soror Mom almost fainted...

My college graduation as VERY different from that...

My master's I just asked for my degree in the mail...

My doctorate, my folks were like wow at the text messaging and cell phone usage...

Now that's interesting, because I find that really rude and inappropriate too, though it is less obtrusive.

i almost did the centaur walk. but i decided against it. LOL

There was an Omega at my school who was asked to apologize to the President of the school after he pulled every Omega move out when he Hopped across the stage. His hat and stole came off. He clapped under his led, spinned around, did a split and some other stuff.

I was soooo afraid that they were gonna clown him right then. He had to 'advise' the rest of the chapter to never do that.

(if you are reading this....KD member....I still got love for ya.lol_