<p>I read the article, followed a comment’s link to the local news interview and watched that, and I STILL feel like there has to be something I’m missing. </p>
<p>It’s a good high school. Their robotics team recently won FIRST! A student there has received a volunteering award. The athletes are doing well in national competitions.</p>
<p>What on earth is going on at that school which requires police-escorted graduation ceremonies and codes of conduct so strict that a student blowing a kiss to his mom, bowing and waving to his friends is denied his diploma?</p>
<p>That’s what I keep wondering. I kept looking at “police” over and over again…and I was like…</p>
<p>beach balls + blowing kiss -> escorting students out of the building + police + refusal to give students diploma</p>
<p>Um…chemistry isn’t my favorite subject, but I don’t believe that’s a balanced equation. </p>
<p>I seriously searched the article for “strict Catholic school” or “conservative private school”.</p>
<p>I found nothing that stated just what this “strict code of conduct” entailed, nothing about any heavy misconduct on the student body’s part. Nothing. </p>
<p>It’s just mind-blowing as to why the school administrators would do this to the students. Graduation is supposed to be when students have fun. There are always mild jokes and pranks, and theirs seemed harmless and rather amusing…they were just beach balls, right? </p>
<p>And I still have no clue why blowing a kiss to his family cost this kid his diploma. </p>
<p>Was he supposed to go up on stage straight-faced and silent and take his diploma and shake hands like a businessman or something? </p>
<p>I can’t imagine why what this boy did would be considered unacceptable otherwise.</p>
<p>Then there’s the whole police escorting that one student out. Why did this kid almost get arrested? What the hell was he doing? There’s nothing in the article that explains it.</p>
<p>Wow, if this happened at our school half the kids wouldn’t graduate. We get a bunch of beach balls and balloons being batted around every year. Last year there was an inflatable woman too.</p>
<p>I agree that the sup was out of line, and the high school graduation is supposed to be a happy, fun time. At my high school graduation, one of the teachers kept a squirt gun under his robes and squirted us (who were wearing white tuxes–Jesuit school) as we walked to the stage. There were chants and cheers, and we even implored one of the guys to do a backflip off of the stage.</p>
<p>I agree. Half the students wouldn’t graduate if our school took this approach. They don’t tolerate rudeness during speeches, but during the passing out of diplomas?</p>
<p>I’ve seen rowdier displays than the one described at preschool graduations.</p>
<p>Here’s my favorite quote from the first article…This isn’t the first time that rambunctious …behavior affected a graduation ceremony at Bonny Eagle. “Four years ago we had some issues with silly string and beach balls,” said Lukas.</p>
<p>My S was one of those “awful” kids that brought beach balls to his graduation. When the VP saw them she threatened him with not getting his diploma. He had them out at the very end anyway and hightailed it in to get his diploma (they don’t give out the originals in the ceremony, they have to go back to the cafeteria to get the original) before she could catch up with him.</p>
<p>But I guess it was ok that the woman directly behind me could use an air horn (in my ear) as kids she knew were recognized. UGH!!!</p>
<p>There was a HS in my general neck of the woods (backwoods) who had the police (yes again- police were there :eek: ) escort parents out who applauded for their child when they received their diploma. Can you believe that??? They asked them to hold applause until the end of the ceremony, but police escorting the parents out? Sheesh. I’ll look to see if its on line somewhere…</p>
<p>I’m guessing they were trying to prevent things like airhorns and other major distractions and just went overboard into saying there could be no celebrating at all. </p>
<p>At my daughter’s graduation, the kids were relatively restrained–it was the parents who were jerks. Cheer for your kid, sure. But not so loudly and for so long that the next kid’s parents can’t hear his/her name announced. And airhorns? Geez, are we at a football game? Incredibly obnoxious.</p>
<p>The punishment did not fit the “crime” (lol, throwing a kiss). Nobody would have said a word about that at our high school and the student would have had his diploma. </p>
<p>At our HS there are graduation rules but they are not always followed. It is relatively orderly, but minor infractions will be overlooked. For example, the boys are suppposed to wear black shoes and black trousers. There was one student in son’s graduation class wearing tan and off white saddle shoes. I thought that it was ridiculous that he did not comply. It is definitely not for a lack of money in this case. This is a family who could afford to buy shoes in every color in the rainbow multiple times over. IMO, this was to get attention. Nothing was said to the student, he marched, participated in everything, and he received his diploma. I somehow don’t think that there would have been the same result if he attended the HS in that article. Perhaps this was overlooked because our HS just did not want “dress code” issues to become an issue for graduation. It looks silly when there is an entire graduation class in black shoes with the exception of one student wearing tan and off white saddle shoes.</p>
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