Posted on 06/05/2012 5:38:45 AM PDT by TSgt
Wow, one sentence paragraphs.
Is the author of this piece a graduate of the same school?
Right you are!!!!
Grandma was right about a bad apple ruining the barrel.
“Why does ANYONE actually cheer at a high school graduation”
I just went to a HS graduation, and the cheering added to the general atmosphere of joy and happiness.
Some people even had large signs with photos of the kid’s face, half a meter across!
When the principal announced that the graduating class had won over 3 million dollars in scholarships, people cheered again! And again when he said that 87% were going on to higher education. And again when the Senior Chorus finished their version of some Beatles tune!
People cheer when they are happy and want to share.
What should we do- sit solemnly and gravely nod in a restrained way when the kid gets his diploma?
If he has met the academic standards set by the State or County Board of Education, then he has "graduated" regardless of whether he receives a copy of the actual diploma or not. He can't be "ungraduated" by a principal or anybody else.
No College I have ever heard of wants a copy of your high school diploma (too easy to forge one). They want your academic transcripts straight from the Board of Education, and as long as the transcripts show that you completed the required coursework they don't care in the least if you have the actual diploma or not. Ditto with most jobs he might apply for.
So unless he really wants the piece of paper to hang on the wall, he should just let the principal go pound sand.
“the rules concerning cheering are clearly set out by the written and spoken word”
I just went to a graduation and there were no rules passed out, posted, or spoken.
One-sentence paragraphs are normal in journalism. In newspapers, they’re easier on the eyes, especially given the fact that with 2” columns, they can run as long down the page as a standard paragraph runs down a book page. The practice simply jumped to the internet, where it may make less sense.
This is a fairly standard arrangement these days. My son just graduated Friday, and everyone knew - cheer for your kid, earn him some detention time (one Saturday detention per cheer).
One hundred ninety-six young men crossed the sanctuary to receive their diplomas. Not a peep was heard from the audience.
There are time management issues, here. Cheering, applause, etc., for 196 folks would add substantially to the ceremony, which already clocks out at over 2 hours. In our case, the graduation ceremony was held in a very large church that is booked with other graduation ceremonies, back-to-back, and then needs to fit in actual Masses between those graduations. There just isn’t time for cheering each individual student as he receives his diploma.
No ... you're supposed to hold you applause to the end of the diploma ceremony, like the man asked. 'Tis a pity some folks have to be reminded ...
That the graduating class consists of several hundred people ... if each graduate's posse spends five (or more) minutes jumping up and down, hooting and hollering and blowing air horns and generally acting like a bunch of classless boors the ceremony will last for several hours.
So, folks, have some class. Show some consideration and respect for your neighbours. Keep your bloody yaps shut for a few minutes, and maybe we can all get through this bloody ceremony without dieing of boredom.
"Respect" and "consideration" seem to be too much to expect from some elements of society.
There are no standards in journalism anymore. It's going to get progressively worse over the course of years, you watch.
Traditional educational curricula espouse the teaching of verbally pronunciated spelling over traditional spelling. Trough is trof. Rough is ruf. And so on.\
The problem is manifold, but most notably, we have a lack of quality editors anywhere. Those editors are often working on tablets and handhelds and don't want to take the time to adequately proofread. And most importantly, the proliferation of txt-speek and Internet lingo have destroyed traditional spelling in lieu of convenience and brevity. It's estimated that less than half of Americans will be able to compose a hand-written letter, no less in cursive script, by 2020.
That's tragic but expected, and it's only going to get worse. The scene from 'Idiocracy' where the protagonist goes into a hospital and presses pictographic buttons for maladies is more likely to occur than anyone wants to admit.
I’ve been to about eight HS graduations in the last few years and there is a common pattern of serious disruption by those “certain elements.” The kids are warned of consequences in advance if they violate the rules, but they persist in ruining the event for others in attendance. No sympathy here.
OT, but did you notice this is the “Mt. Healthy” high school? It sounds like Michelle Obama must have forced the school to change their name recently. Now they need to change their mascot from the “Fighting Owls” to something more nutritionally acceptable — say the “Mt Healthy Fighting Fennels” or the “Mt. Healthy Carrot Chompers” or perhaps the “Mt. Healthy Celery Stalkers.”
What’s he going to do with a diploma anyway?
The letter was obviously written before the cheering even started.
Is he pricipal Prescient?
The kid obviously is no brain trust and will be a waste of a good college education, except for that colleges football team.
However he was passed on for whatever reason and to deny him his diploma at that late date is BS.
“like the man asked”
Who asked? Is there another article?
At the graduation I just went to, the cheering stopped when the superintendent called the next name. 178 or so kids, 90 minute graduation from start to finish with three musical numbers thrown in.
The loudspeakers were louder than the crowd.
“if each graduate's posse spends five (or more) minutes jumping up and down,...”
For a graduating class of a couple of hundred kids, even fifteen seconds of cheering per kid will add about an hour.
At my son's graduation, there was still plenty of applause, cheering, for the various awards, for the speeches given, for the class as a whole. But none for seniors as they crossed the sanctuary to get their individual diplomas.
I'm sure that many of the folks who would complain about how wrong it is to punish kids for these outbursts are folks who would also complain about the length of the ceremony.
sitetest
I read a post on Facebook this morning from my daughter’s former high school principal. He used “to” when it should have been “too” and “loose” when it should have been “lose”. And no one knows how to use apostrophes any more. I even see them used incorrectly on news tickers on TV. We are becoming a nation of morons.
As for the graduate. Not everyone has a 'normal' iq. Perhaps he really is dumb. Not a insult.
I have more respect for someone like that who has to work very hard to reach a basic goal, ie high school graduation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.