Students don't get diploma due to excess cheering from crowd

SWTXBelle · #1 06-02-2007, 05:31 PM

One of the things I loved best about teaching at a small private Christian high school was our graduation. It was the Evening Prayer Service from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer - 1928. It was beautiful, dignified, and a fitting celebration of an event that marks such an important milestone. Even so, and even though it is held in a church, they had to make sure the students, parents and family and friends realized that they were expected to behave in a manner befitting the dignity and importance of the ceremony.
The first public high school graduation I attended after working at this school was a shock - air horns, beach balls, cow bells, whooping and hollering - I don't know how they could get control of that many people. It really cheapened the recognition of the achievement of those hard-working students.

AGDee · #2 06-02-2007, 05:37 PM

You're asking a 17 or 18 year old to say to their parents "Sorry, but I don't trust that you'll behave yourself so I'm not giving you tickets for graduation."

I don't see that flying in most households.

UGAalum94 · #3 06-02-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGDee

You're asking a 17 or 18 year old to say to their parents "Sorry, but I don't trust that you'll behave yourself so I'm not giving you tickets for graduation."

I don't see that flying in most households.

I think if the parents knew that their behavior could cost the diploma, the kid wouldn't have as much to worry about.

But yeah, if it came to that, I'd rather see the parents not go than mom or dad blast the air horn over some other kid's name.

UGAalum94 · #4 06-02-2007, 05:40 PM

It is pretty challenging logistically, which is why I favor laying it all on the graduates and matching them by ticket to the folks in the audience.

Knowing that you could cause little Suzie to lose her diploma ought to motivate people to act right.

It's a shame that good behavior would have to be compelled in this way.

CutiePie2000 · #5 06-02-2007, 07:10 PM

Maybe the person who does the "name announcing" could pause to let the noise die down, so that the next person following could actually have their name heard by their family. The pauses would add up and take forever, but I guess you've got to do what you've got to do.

UGAalum94 · #6 06-02-2007, 07:42 PM

What you are suggesting is entirely reasonable, but if people were behaving reasonably no school would have gone to this holding the diploma thing.

Have you been to a graduation, particularly a high school graduation in the last few years?

Really, the stuff you are suggesting would work if the people in attendance weren't selfish jerks, but some of them are.

I honestly believe that if they figured you would wait for them to quiet down, it would become a contest in how long they could make noise. You see, it's all about them and their kids. They don't care about you or your kids or the decorum of the event. They think they are behaving in a positive and celebratory way and that it's their right to do so.

In the linked news story there were only five graduates who had guests who did anything excessive, and this was after they publicized this policy and the kids knew what would happen. Why not let them enforce it this way and get the excessiveness down to zero?

There's always some loser who can't follow the policy and then wants to appeal for sympathy when the consequences they were told would follow a given behavior actually happen. Don't give it to them. All the sad graduates should be told to get their sympathy from Aunt Sally with the air horn.

UGAalum94 · #7 06-02-2007, 07:45 PM

From the article:

"About a month before the May 27 ceremony, Galesburg High students and their parents had to sign a contract promising to act in dignified way. Violators were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from the after-graduation party."

There you have it folks. The only thing that's happened is that the school actually followed through.

PM_Mama00 · #8 06-02-2007, 08:01 PM

My high school graduation was very.. um.. ceremonious... is that a word? It was very serious. And we were definitely warned that if we did anything to screw it up, we wouldn't get our diplomas. This included excessive cheering, tossing caps, etc. But then again, we didn't have the kind of crowd that would be hooting and hollering, and we also had a certain amount of tickets to give to family.

UGAalum94 · #9 06-02-2007, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

My high school graduation was very.. um.. ceremonious... is that a word? It was very serious. And we were definitely warned that if we did anything to screw it up, we wouldn't get our diplomas. This included excessive cheering, tossing caps, etc. But then again, we didn't have the kind of crowd that would be hooting and hollering, and we also had a certain amount of tickets to give to family.

I'm glad to hear that not all of them have this problem. But maybe some of what you and SWTXBelle mentioned are what bothers me so much. I'm assuming that yours too might be a private school.

I really want to believe in public schools, and when things come up about how public school kids and parents can't act right, it really makes me sad in a bigger way than just air horns at graduation would bother me.

I don't want public education to only be for trashy people. But when you can't even conduct a graduation ceremony with decorum and seriousness, it makes me think that public education might really only be for the low class.

PM_Mama00 · #10 06-02-2007, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

I'm glad to hear that not all of them have this problem. But maybe some of what you and SWTXBelle mentioned are what bothers me so much. I'm assuming that yours too might be a private school.

I really want to believe in public schools, and when things come up about how public school kids and parents can't act right, it really makes me sad in a bigger way than just air horns at graduation would bother me.

I don't want public education to only be for trashy people. But when you can't even conduct a graduation ceremony with decorum and seriousness, it makes me think that public education might really only be for the low class.

I went to public school.

carnation · #11 06-02-2007, 08:41 PM

[QUOTE=Alphagamuga;1459684]
I honestly believe that if they figured you would wait for them to quiet down, it would become a contest in how long they could make noise. You see, it's all about them and their kids. They don't care about you or your kids or the decorum of the event. They think they are behaving in a positive and celebratory way and that it's their right to do so.[QUOTE]

Yeah! Best quote ever! And it doesn't just apply to graduations but to a lot of what parents do, especially in the school arena. Because "it's all about them and their kids"!

KSigkid · #12 06-02-2007, 09:03 PM

I think you could ask the people to leave without having the students wait for a diploma.

I think this goes a bit too far, especially for a high school graduation. With a college graduation, I can understand it a bit more.

GeekyPenguin · #13 06-03-2007, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

Maybe the person who does the "name announcing" could pause to let the noise die down, so that the next person following could actually have their name heard by their family. The pauses would add up and take forever, but I guess you've got to do what you've got to do.

That's what my high school and college did. They would say 'Amy So and So' and then she would walk across the stage, get the diploma, do the handshake, pose, and go down the steps. By that point the clapping/yelling was done, so they'd then move on to 'Bob Sorrysoandso' and his family had time to do their thing.

33girl · #14 06-03-2007, 12:50 PM

Quite franky, I think behavior like this has something to do with the fact that graduation ceremonies aren't special anymore. They used to have them for high school and college, that was IT. Now, anything is a "milestone." Graduation from middle school or junior high. Graduation from summer camp. Graduation from any old grade. One of my friends just went to a kindergarten graduation, for God's sake. The next thing is going to be slapping a mortar board on a newborn's head to celebrate its "womb graduation."

KSigkid · #15 06-03-2007, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33girl

Quite franky, I think behavior like this has something to do with the fact that graduation ceremonies aren't special anymore. They used to have them for high school and college, that was IT. Now, anything is a "milestone." Graduation from middle school or junior high. Graduation from summer camp. Graduation from any old grade. One of my friends just went to a kindergarten graduation, for God's sake. The next thing is going to be slapping a mortar board on a newborn's head to celebrate its "womb graduation."

Part of that as well could be that more people are going to college now. It used to be that high school was the high point of most people's academic careers, and now it's more expected that kids will go to some sort of college. The college graduation has taken away a lot of the importance of the high school one.