Topic: Your parents cheered for you? NO DIPLOMA FOR YOU.

[Pugnate]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/06/01/graduation.decorum.ap/index.html

I am undecided. Initially I was sympathetic towards the students, but I can imagine how certain people can be obnoxious.

[WindAndConfusion]

... Because a high school graduation is such a solemn, serious occasion.

[wizall]

... Because a high school graduation is such a solemn, serious occasion.

Exactly. 

[Pugnate]

I know it seems silly, and is probably overkill... I am just wondering how fucking obnoxious these moronic parents were for them to have taken such a drastic step.

[Cobra951]

I don't see how this is in any way fair.  They're not punishing the unruly parentrs.  They're punishing the students who earned those diplomas.

[ren]

and it's not just parents cheering, it's friends. The people who got cheered for didn't do anything wrong. If they really wanted to make a fuss they should take the screamers out of the auditorium and then people will shut up out of fear of being kicked out.

[scottws]

I agree that it's an unfair punishment, but it is a bit of a problem.

During any graduation ceremony, most of which are far too long already, they ask that everyone in the audience contains their cheers until the very end where they can cheer for the graduating class as a whole.  I don't think that is a lot to ask.  Especially when people cheer you can't even hear the next person's name called, robbing them and their families of that moment forever.

There is no good way to curtail the behavior other than to make it illegal to cheer during the ceremony and enforcing it harshly, or putting the families behind soundproof glass with a one-way speaker system.  So the behavior will continue forever, but I do think it's a problem.  It's extremely selfish of the people who do cheer.

[Shadowswhisper]

Having attended so many of these graduations at higher level, i can only say that the ceremony itself is pretty silly to take seriously - if everyone would just chill this wouldnt be a huge problem. The thing is that you got school administrator people who thinks that this is the be all end all ceremonies, and conduct it like this will the end of their teaching careers.

Anyone who has gotten a degree knows its a joke : It is an achievement, certainly , but not a significant one. Its like birthday - everyone celebrates it, but no one with a highschool degree can use it for any kind of job that requires an education of any sort. All it does is allow the student to spend the next 20,000 dollar on their university for the next 4 years, the graduation of which does not guarantee any placement in life either.

Its such a boring event, why not REQUIRE people to cheer and have a contest on whose party can cheer the loudest? In my university, every year they also give an honorary degree in something to an accomplished member of the society. Honestly, education is a laugh and a half.

[scottws]

I see what you're saying, but I would have been mad myself if my name was drowned out by the previous graduate's parents and friends cheering regardless of how unimportant the high school graduation ceremony really is.

[Shadowswhisper]

Ya, the keyword was to chill ^_^

As in....If i were an announcer, I announced SCOTTW.....recipient of blablabla (CHEER CHEER CHEER CHEER)
I wouldnt go and announce the next person while tons of cheering are going around in the background. I will smile, laugh, clap with the parents, and wait for it to die down. I am not sure why these administrator are behaving like robots...OMG people are cheering? what do i do? I think i will call the next person out.

That way, everyone has fun in this mostly boring event >_< .

In fact i just thought of an example : Lets use a similar setting: Any kind of awards ceremony you see. On TV, anything. Mostly people are having fun, they are there to appreciate the achievement of some people. There are cheerings, jokes...Claps. I know that this used to be a serious event...but it isnt anymore, it depreciated with the value of the degree itself in the job market.

I see what you're saying, but I would have been mad myself if my name was drowned out by the previous graduate's parents and friends cheering regardless of how unimportant the high school graduation ceremony really is.

[ender]

The drowning out argument doesn't work. I've never been to a graduation where the announcer didn't wait until noise drowned out to call the next name. It's called riding the wave - anyone that has done public announcing or speaking knows how to do it and if they're using people that don't know anything about that, then that's their own damn fault. To deny someone a diploma for joyous celebration (completely dignified last time I checked) then that's pathetic. What the hell, is this a totalitarian society?

[nickclone]

The drowning out argument doesn't work. I've never been to a graduation where the announcer didn't wait until noise drowned out to call the next name. It's called riding the wave - anyone that has done public announcing or speaking knows how to do it and if they're using people that don't know anything about that, then that's their own damn fault. To deny someone a diploma for joyous celebration (completely dignified last time I checked) then that's pathetic. What the hell, is this a totalitarian society?

Exactly, not to mention I've never heard any name drowned out over anything else other than a passing airplane. Besides, why the hell should I wait until the end to cheer? I don't want to cheer for the other kids, I want to cheer for mine. I want to cheer for the kid I raised for 18 years when they're up on stage and show them the congratulations they deserve. When people cheer, it only lasts for three seconds, I think this has to do with popularity.

I bet they're really afraid of the loser kids who don't get a lot of applause. Oh, and how does community service even fit into this whole thing?

[Cobra951]

What the hell, is this a totalitarian society?

Yes.  It wasn't nearly as authoritarian during my youth.

[Ghandi]

There were people's names drowned out at all the high school graduations that I've been to (6- ugh). But lets be honest here- It's not even like graduating high school is that big of an accomplishment. High school is pathetically easy. My name was partially drowned out but to be honest I didn't care because it's not like I was particularly proud to be there. It was just another stupid step that I had to take before I went to college.