Posted on 05/30/2016 8:34:38 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
In this photo taken Thursday evening, May 26, 2016, Stephen Dwyer, right, who had been told he could not wear a cap and gown nor sit with his classmates, led them in a procession on the field at Thursday’s ceremony, but he had to go sit in the stands afterwards.
“Having people tell me that I’m being a voice for them is so much more powerful than these people denying me my request,” Stephen Dwyer said.
The 18-year-old on Sunday, just a few days after having to watch his Mesa high school’s graduation ceremony from afar, said he never imagined his Facebook post about it would draw national attention. He said he has heard from strangers from all over the world through social media. Many of them are people who are dealing with illness.
Dwyer withdrew from Dobson High School during his junior year to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant for leukemia. He took online courses until he was able to return in the fall of 2015. He took on an extra early morning class, rejoined the swim team and was elected student body president. He is 2½ credits short of graduating and will finish in December. He argued that students who are on track to graduate shouldn’t be excluded from events like the graduation ceremony.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
Normally, I would agree that not meeting the requirements should mean no formal graduation. He is an exception to the rule. If he was a minority/illegal/other than male or female, he would be praised and touted and given a chance to address the rest - even with far fewer actual credit....
I for one would have some hard questions for the school board members at their next meeting.Like,”Have you people lost all sense of your humanity?”
Congratulations on your recovery from cancer. But you haven't graduated yet. If the ceremony is that important you will be part of the class of 2017 and can walk then.
he lacked the credits for graduation
so do lots of others
why do you insist on breaking the rule?
I agree. This isn’t a country (or not supposed to be) of victims and survivors and special exceptions. There is no stigma in fulfilling the requirements for graduation for the next year.
Really, that’s crap. Sorry for the language. They could have let him walk with his cap & gown and presented him an unsigned or blank diploma. Wouldn’t be a first. I’m surprised these folks let him walk at all.
If you don’t know,I’m sure not going to explain it.
He'll finish long before next spring and might not even be around to participate in the ceremony a year from now. I don't normally sympathize with people who want the rules bent to suit their situation, but considering the circumstances in this instance, I think he should have been allowed to walk.
I would clarify that by “not around in a year” I mean that he will have likely moved on with life and be busy pursuing other endeavors, not dead.
Catering to the “snowflake” crowd?
That's what makes this incident such a hard choice; if you read the article, the boy made a monumental effort to catch up to his classmates, taking online courses until he was able to return in the fall, then enrolling in an extra early morning class, rejoining the swim team...
It's not like he just sat back and expected to be allowed to graduate. I know the "da rules is rules" crowd will say "too damn bad", but this one doesn't pass the smell test. It almost looks like the School Board is being lazy and using a "zero tolerance" standard.
Hmm... my high school allowed me to participate (but not walk) in the graduation ceremony of the class ahead of me. They even announced my name so that I got recognition.
The thing is, I had been accepted to go overseas as an exchange student, and would not be there when my class graduated the following year. I spent my senior year of high school in France. In the end, I decided not to graduate at all... not that anyone cares, because it is NOT mandatory to have a HS diploma in order to enter higher education. Although I do love to tell people that Dr. exDemMom is a HS dropout.
My nephew was one class short this spring & his college let him ‘walk’ .... he got a blank “diploma” & the real one will be mailed when he finishes his class in July. He was not one class short because of failing anything or laziness - he opted for a double major & couldn’t get this required class that was only offered at certain times into his schedule until summer school. Being able to walk allows him to graduate with his friends/team of 4 years & saves the hassle of coming back in December, if he wanted to go through a graduation ceremony.
This high school kid, having cancer, doing online classes, coming back & being on the swim team, student body president ..... well, I would have let him ‘walk’. Sure, rules are rules”, but there are legitimate ‘exceptions’ .... the problem is, things have gone so far overboard these days (pc, give an inch - take a mile, etc.) that common sense & human decency no longer can factor into the equation in a circumstance like this or somebody is screaming bloody discrimination or worse.
Despite having some sympathy for the boy, I question how his guidance counselors allowed him to start his final semester, or even the one before that, knowing he would be short credits for graduation.
And, not to be callous, but perhaps the time spent with the swim team could have been better spent taking another class to make up the credits for graduation. There’s a reason that extra-curricular activities are given that name.
Oh hell no.Look at what that young man has gone through and the effort he has made to catch up.He’s well liked,he’s the student class president.Just let him graduate with his friends,was that too much to ask?
From what I can tell reading the info presented he didn’t ask to graduate early. He asked to walk with his class and sit with them during the ceremony. I don’t see the harm.
If he isn’t going to meet the requirement until the middle of the next academic year, he should graduate with the class of 2017.
Slippery slope.
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