Another Graduation Question
 

Does anyone else think that the number of graduation spectators who act the fool during the ceremony has mushroomed in the last 10-12 years?

It's so funny you bring this up..

Even though this story is from a year ago, I just ran into it online the other day. A woman was arrested for cheering too loud/crazily at her kid's graduation ceremony.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...the-cuffs?lite

That's all I got.

Perhaps. When my husband graduated with his MBA, when the graduates from the School of Education were announced, an entire section of spectators (presumably their family, friends, and School of Education students who weren't graduating that year) started SCREAMING. I was wondering when I'd fallen out of the auditorium and into the middle of a rock concert. :rolleyes:

Back in my day, it was the graduates who acted the fools. At my HS graduation, someone got hold of a gigantic beach ball with a print of the Earth on it. A bunch of kids in the bleachers started tossing it around mid-ceremony. When the ceremony was rebroadcast on the education public access channel, the "Earth ball" bit was conveniently edited out.

When my son graduated from High School in 2005 there were numerous parents ( I guess ) with air horns who would blow them at random intervals. It was very annoying!!

They announced a bit of a warning before Hypo's graduation about it being a serious ceremony and applause was expected but screaming and whistling was not. Some people did it anyway. The same ones who did during every concert, etc.

A similar announcement was made before my son's middle school graduation. (Yeah, I know.) After it was all over, he commented that he guessed all the kids in his school who seemed to be incapable of following simple directions came by it naturally.

At my high school graduation in 2002, cheering loudly and extensively was discouraged - with over 900 students to get through, they had to say everyone's name pretty quickly, and they didn't want anyone's name to get drowned out. I remember them saying, "I'm sure you would be upset if you couldn't hear your own child's name, so please don't ruin this day for someone else."

No one went crazy then, or at my college graduation in 2006, but of course it happens.

Whether it's become worse recently, I don't know.

I've seen some of it at college graduations, which I find really appalling given the tradition and planning that go into graduation ceremonies. It can ruin high school ceremonies too, though.

Our kids' high school has tried out various measures to stop the rudeness. The only one to have much of an effect was limiting the number of graduation tickets to 5 per graduate. This infuriated some parents but then they were the same kind of enabling parents who go ballistic when they find out that kids who don't pass senior year don't get to walk at graduation until the year they do. This year, I only heard 3 air horns and that's quite an improvement. A nearby high school has had some improvement by stationing the coaches in the aisles of the stadium.

The thing that makes me angriest, though, is when graduates' names aren't heard because the family of the one before them played the fool because they decided it was their right. To heck with anybody else's kid!

I haven't seen anything too crazy in any of the graduations I've been too. There's always a few families that go nuts, but nothing insane. It never really bothers me, but I agree it's rude when you're carrying on to the point where the next student's name is drowned out. I guess I've never witnessed it to that point, so maybe I would be more annoyed if I had.

At my sister-in-law's graduation, someone boo'd really loud after someone's name was read. You almost got the feeling it was a brother/sister. The whole crowd (at least a couple thousand) laughed. It even threw the announcer off a bit, there was a longer pause between that name and the next, lol

Lawrence Tech's graduation was on a soccer field last year. Since I was working, I was up on balcony over the graduation field and was watching kids run out with toys onto parts of the soccer field that weren't being used. When I saw parents get up, I was relieved. BUT THEN, all of the parents who got up called their other kids over and brought more toys and were running around playing during the ceremony. Literally no respect. There were at least 20 people running around.

I will admit, though, at all of my sister's and my graduations, my extended family is always the loud rowdy one when our names got called. I'm not mad. lol

It really bothers me, especially when the President of the college, the principal or headmaster of the HS make a special request at the beginning of the ceremony for people to use their good manners.

At our son's college graduation, we were "lucky" enough to be surrounded by a large, boisterous family who all stood and hooted,hollered,stomped, and chanted while their graduate was receiving her diploma. I was grateful that our son was not next to their graduate alphabetically. With the exception of a few other families, everyone else carried on the decorum the event warranted. Some colleges offer a formal dinner for soon to be graduates so they can learn the proper utensil to use, as well as practice dinner conversation-perhaps they should offer classes for proper behavior at graduations for relatives.

I will say that at Hypo's graduation, the entire audience gave "G", Hypo's friend who had cancer, a standing ovation. We were all so thrilled she made it because in September, we didn't think she would. That was very different than what we're talking about though. The name reader paused until it stopped so nobody's name was missed.

That is different and very appropriate. What a joyful thing to be able to celebrate.

In some ways, it's not that different. For students who are the first in their family to graduate or otherwise less privileged than most on these boards, making it to graduation is a REALLY BIG DEAL. If families want to go nuts, let 'em go nuts.

My three nephews have all gone to a large Catholic high school about an hour from where we live. When nephew #2 graduated last year, his mom and dad arrived at noon, when the doors opened, to save seats for the rest of the family. The school had said that you could do that, with the caveat that you had to stay--you couldn't put something on the seats and leave, then come back.

My husband and I were rushing to get there after church (long drive, confusing parking, short children's legs, etc.), but we got there about half an hour before it started. My sister in law said that she was glad we were there...a guy seated nearby was hassling them and threatening to come take our seats. He had seats, but liked theirs/ours better. And my brother and nephews are giants! They are all between 6'5" and 6'10". I was surprised that (1) someone would act that way when their kid was graduating from a religious school and (2) that he would try to start something with them, because their size is quite intimidating. Weird.