The graduation last week at the high school where I teach was horrible. I collected 4 beachballs during the ceremony, and several other teachers collected more. I collected several cans of silly string, as did other teachers. Not 10 minutes into the ceremony the graduates were already bouncing beachballs and spraying each other with silly string, including during the senior chorus members' very last performance together. This continued throughout the ceremony. They were spraying each other with silly string before some of them had walked across the stage and had their picture made-- not only did they ruin their own graduation, but they ruined the pictures of it as well. When parents saw us taking the beachballs and silly string, they booed us and yelled that the kids were just having fun. It was terrible. I was looking forward to seeing several outstanding students graduate that I've gotten to know this year but I wasn't able to hear their names called or see them walk across the stage because I was so busy trying to keep the rowdy students quiet. It was just horrible.
People did not dress appropriately either. Many parents showed up wearing jeans and tie-dyed t-shirts. I even saw a baby in a stroller wearing only a diaper. Graduation is a formal event-- at the very least your entire family should come fully clothed! The graduates also didn't dress appropriately-- most of the guys wore shorts and icky old birkenstocks so you could see their hairy legs and ugly feet as they walked across the stage. It was not attractive.
This was the first time I've attended graduation so I was pretty shocked. And mad. I spend all day every day making sure every student in my class has the opportunity to walk across that stage and they don't even care enough to give their own accomplishment the respect it deserves, and neither do their parents. It just felt like a slap in the face.
Later some students asked me why I looked so mad and I told them this is not the way a graduation ceremony should be. Their reply was, "This is Central!" For some reason they are proud of being rednecks. They have practically made camouflage the new school color. My brothers and I graduated from a high school in a neighboring city but it was NOTHING like this-- it was serious and respectful, and I only remember seeing one beachball.
I WISH the worst thing that happened was the kids tried to put on sunglasses. But at my school and apparently other schools too there are much worse things that happen at graduation, and I think this is what they were trying to avoid.
After my experience, I understand where that administration is coming from and I totally agree with having rules about what is and is not ok during a graduation ceremony. There is time to celebrate in a fun way later, but the graduation ceremony is a time to honor the graduates and show that achieving this level of education is an accomplishment to be valued.
However, I don't feel it was the student's fault that her family cheered-- she should not be the one to face the consequences. Removing the loud audience members would have been more appropriate.
ne is a safety factor.It is such a shame that school functions can go out of control to the point where violence happens.There are some parents who have complained because they couldn't hear the name of their child walking across the stage,but being drowned out by the excitement from relatives and friends.I would be very upset too.I went to my daughter's high school graduation and it was so loud that you couldn't hear anything because of the rowdy graduates family and friends.
