quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I dunno. Kids will be kids. It is, after all, a celebration of THEIR accomplishment, let them ruin it how they see fit (keeping it legal, anyway).

You read it wrong. It was the parents and families of the graduate that were taking these actions.
Hard to believe that people act this way about something that you are expected to have. So expected to have that they practically GIVE it to you. A HS diploma is barely worth the paper it's written on anymore.

Now when my wife graduated with her masters in education. THAT is an accomplishment. The difference is that there actually was decorum at the graduation.

Have attended many graduations (teacher). The students that get short changed are those at the end of the alphabet. As example, parents toss a beach ball and it gets kicked around. It's disruptive. A teacher grabs it and there's a loud "boo." On the tape you hear "Sharon Smith" followed by "BOO!" Real classy.
With certain parents, once their kid gets their moment in the spotlight, graduation becomes boring. They get restless. They don't care about other students getting diplomas.
Then there are the ones that come drunk or high.

I expect that from a High School but was surprised to see people acting the fool when my daughter got her MA degree. I thought by college they would grow up enough to act like adults but I was wrong.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...

Former teacher here.

There's nothing more cringeworthy, than douche bag parents who act like idiots at a graduation.

Luckily, the school I was teaching at had very few, which made the idiots stick out even more.

I really don't understand why the celebration can't be withheld until after the ceremony.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Sometimes this is an achievement grander than expected.

What were the noted demographics?

Around here they appear to fall into one common demographic.

2 white trash. 1 black trash.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I dunno. Kids will be kids. It is, after all, a celebration of THEIR accomplishment, let them ruin it how they see fit (keeping it legal, anyway).

Nope.

They need to follow rules. I'm in favor of disciplining kids who try to pull pranks during the ceremony, and punishing parents who willfully choose to ignore the rules of decorum.

Pre-arranged things, like a returning vet surprising a sibling, special inscriptions on caps (deceased classmate, etc) should be allowed. But three hour commencements because people want to acts like clowns and fools is ridiculous. Have your hooting, hollering, and shout outs at the grad party where it belongs.

Two pages with no Christopher Walken.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Sometimes this is an achievement grander than expected.

What were the noted demographics?

Around here they appear to fall into one common demographic.

2 white trash. 1 black trash.

So the demographic is "trash."

Same thing around here. Parents who dress and act as though they came from section 8 housing or the trailer park and they live there cause day don't need no work in dare lives.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Sometimes this is an achievement grander than expected.

What were the noted demographics?

Around here they appear to fall into one common demographic.

2 white trash. 1 black trash.

So the demographic is "trash."

Same thing around here. Parents who dress and act as though they came from section 8 housing or the trailer park and they live there cause day don't need no work in dare lives.

I was going to say trailer trash but I know several people who live in a trailer who that doesn't apply to.

I think, and have always believed, that folks put way too much emphasis on this ceremonial crap. The celebration should be over the accomplishment with ones loved ones. Go out to dinner. Throw a party at home.

If it wasn't for the insistence of some more traditional family members, I would have skipped both my high school and college graduation ceremonies. I had better things to do, like go to work. Either way, my diploma/degree came in the mail later.

The biggest issue is the next name they call after a rabunctious celebration.

How sad is it that those following the rules may miss the name of their kid, or that kid walks across the stage in silence after a huge group cheering for the previous name, their snowflake didn't achieve any more than the next.

I skipped my HS graduation, had already been at university for two months and didn't care.

My Mom was pretty upset about my not coming back to town, and I think she went to hear my name called in absentia.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I dunno. Kids will be kids. It is, after all, a celebration of THEIR accomplishment, let them ruin it how they see fit (keeping it legal, anyway).

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

This post right here is the problem. I've heard that about one too many times. IS've been both a teacher and school administrator. We've got too many parents that have an attitude like this or just don't give a damn as to what kind of clowns their children grow up to be. I would like to see more schools do the same. Just shut it down and start clearing the hall of anyone that would be disruptive or disrespectful. People like this are not "owed" a damn thing. To hell with them. Just another indicator of a sick society.

Glad to see you posting GPC.

You have been on my mind the past week, so I throwed up some prayers, just in case.

Thanks SM, I didn't realize I had been absent. It's nice to know there are those that care.

Graduation, Millennial Edition

This message has been edited. Last edited by: erratic,

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I think, and have always believed, that folks put way too much emphasis on this ceremonial crap. The celebration should be over the accomplishment with ones loved ones. Go out to dinner. Throw a party at home.

If it wasn't for the insistence of some more traditional family members, I would have skipped both my high school and college graduation ceremonies. I had better things to do, like go to work. Either way, my diploma/degree came in the mail later.

I came from another generation. People who attended graduations; HS, College, Police Acdemy, etc, dressed for the occasion. Your "Sunday best" was different from someone else's but it was still your best.

Now it's jeans, wife beaters and acting a fool. The cheering and screaming should be saved for the party afterwards.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
I think this noise/attention making is more about the parents, family and friends wanting their kid to seem more important and "loved" than others. "My kid got the loudest acknowledgement... he/she is more loved than the other kids"

This is one lesson I learned from my HS football coach as he had nipped this in the bud. All congrats were a single, united clap (i.e. we all clapped once and loudly at the same time). When we had awards banquets, even the dumbest of parents caught on within a couple minutes. He started with the student athletes in freshman football, made sure it was consistently done in all levels of the program, every time he got in front of a group of parents this was explained, and when the parents fell in line when they heard the football players' united single clap.

A high school principal could do the same thing indoctrinating the students and parents starting as freshman.

I didn't attend graduation when I finished my Master's degree.

No, not that I wasn't proud of my work, not that my family wouldn't have been there, nothing like that. Just that previous graduations were exactly the shit-show described above. I've seen more class and better decorum at graduation ceremonies inside prisons.

My faculty advisor asked me why I wouldn't be attending. I told him. He looked pained, said that people (faculty, staff, AND grads) had been complaining for years, but the administration didn't want to rain on anyone's "special day." Raining on the "special" of the 400+ grads whose families DON'T act like savages apparently didn't rate the same way.

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:
Raining on the "special" of the 400+ grads whose families DON'T act like savages apparently didn't rate the same way.

That is the sad and sorry truth about countless situations in American society today. As someone pointed out long ago, “Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins,” and yet that fundamental truth is evidently impossible for many people to comprehend.