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Excessive Graduation Cheering=Loss of Diploma

post #1 of 17
6/1/07 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070601/...uation_decorum

Quote:
Caisha Gayles graduated with honors last month, but she is still waiting for her diploma. The reason: the whoops of joy from the audience as she crossed the stage.

Gayles was one of five students denied diplomas from the lone public high school in Galesburg after enthusiastic friends or family members cheered for them during commencement.

About a month before the May 27 ceremony, Galesburg High students and their parents had to sign a contract promising to act in dignified way. Violators were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from the after-graduation party.

Many schools across the country ask spectators to hold applause and cheers until the end of graduation. But few of them enforce the policy with what some in Galesburg say are strong-arm tactics.

School officials in Galesburg, a working-class town of 34,000 that is still reeling from the 2004 shutdown of a 1,600-employee refrigerator factory, said the get-tough policy followed a 2005 commencement where hoots, hollers and even air horns drowned out much of the ceremony and nearly touched off fights in the audience when the unruly were asked to quiet down.

"Lots of parents complained that they could not hear their own child's name called," said Joel Estes, Galesburg's assistant superintendent.

In Galesburg, the issue has taken on added controversy with accusations that the students were targeted because of their race: four are black and one is Hispanic. Parents say cheers also erupted for white students, and none of them was denied a diploma.

Principal Tom Chiles said administrators who monitored the more than 2,000-seat auditorium reported only disruptions they considered "significant," and all turned in the same five names.

"Race had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever," Chiles said. "It is the amount of disruption at the time of the incident."

School officials said they will hear students and parents out if they appeal. Meanwhile, the school said the five students can still get their diplomas by completing eight hours of public service work, answering phones, sorting books or doing other chores for the district, situated about 150 miles southwest of Chicago.
Wow. Tough rule. I have to wonder, though, is graduating from high school such an incredible feat that people are unable to contain their joy?
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post #2 of 17
6/1/07 at 8:11pm
Wow, not only a stupid policy, but they managed to sort of admit they think that minorities are more loud and obnoxoius than white people.
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post #3 of 17
6/1/07 at 8:12pm
Thread Starter 
How bad must the situation have been for them to impose such a draconian rule? The mind boggles.
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post #4 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:22pm
'Caisha'

The 21st century is the century of naming by Boggle.
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post #5 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:22pm
I went to my brother's graduation last weekend, and yeah, the principal comes up and sighs and (you could tell this happens every year) tells people to applaud equally for each name, then let everyone hear the next one. As I would assume also happens every year, it didn't happen: some kids would dance along the stage and their family in the stands would go ballistic, because apparently getting a diploma is that special.

My situation was different because there was no punishment, but if
Quote:
About a month before the May 27 ceremony, Galesburg High students and their parents had to sign a contract promising to act in dignified way. Violators were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from the after-graduation party.
then hey, they really can't complain.
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post #6 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:26pm
We were told not to throw our caps at the end of the ceremony, but we did anyway. Bunch of rebels, we.
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post #7 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Kimbell
... because apparently getting a diploma is that special.
Uh yeah it is. For a country with a government that thinks its okay for adults to only have an 8th grade education, it a god damned miracle that anyone graduates. And yes, for poor families -- many of which are minorities -- getting a high school diploma is a pretty fucking big deal as often these kids are the first, or one of the few in their families, to have done so. You do remember that it was not so long ago that Black people were legally denied access to education, right?

I personally did not receive my diploma on the day of my graduation because my mom got in a verbal fight with my guidance counselor over some issue not related to me. On a day that should have marked my transition from child to adult, I was pissed off and angry. This is a stupid rule. Punish the offenders by kicking them out of the ceremony or limit the number of tickets kids can get so they don't have large numbers of family members screaming their names. But denying someone a diploma that they rightfully earned because of another person's actions is bullshit.
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post #8 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:49pm
The whole graduation thing in and of itself seems like a waste of time to me. You've already earned the diploma, so yay. Do you really need to strut across the stage and show it off to everyone in a big, elaborate ceremony?
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post #9 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:52pm
We didn't even actually get our diplomas at my graduation -- we simply got handed the binder you slipped it in to, and had to go pick up the diploma at the school the following week.
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post #10 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:55pm
I'm amazed no one hooted, hollered, whooped and what-have-you for kids they didn't like.
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post #11 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:58pm
Even if you didn't get it the day of, you guys could still go pick it up. I didn't receive mine for months. And it was a big deal for my grandfather who wanted it framed and to show it off as my mom is a big loser and I'm sort of his surrogate kid. And sure you could say why do you need the diploma, you graduated anyway? It's just a physical symbol of everything you accomplished and for many getting a high school education is accomplishing alot.

But still there is the issue of why a child should get punished for something other people did. Why should the kids graduating have to do public service? Shouldn't it be the people who were cheering who should get punished? The whole thing is fucked.
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post #12 of 17
6/1/07 at 9:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-7
I'm amazed no one hooted, hollered, whooped and what-have-you for kids they didn't like.
Heh heh. That's just diabolical enough to make me think the rule is great.
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post #13 of 17
6/1/07 at 10:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diva
But still there is the issue of why a child should get punished for something other people did. Why should the kids graduating have to do public service? Shouldn't it be the people who were cheering who should get punished? The whole thing is fucked.
Indeed. If the kid had done something outrageous after signing the "be dignified" agreement, that's one thing. But if other people did it you should NOT be punishing the student. Punish the offenders if you will but not the students.
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post #14 of 17
6/1/07 at 10:29pm
I just hope that LaQuicknashawnda got hers.
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post #15 of 17
6/1/07 at 10:46pm
When I graduated, our superintendent and principal(twice) asked everyone beforehand not to cheer or hollar until the end. Yeah, of course nobody is going to follow that. So for the 300+ students graduating, myself and the others around me were seeing who would get the loudest cheers for the whole night. That would eventually go to me. Since, obviously from my name, I was last. No, I will not admit that the huge ovation was because it was all over. LET ME HAVE MY MOMENT.
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post #16 of 17
6/1/07 at 10:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Kimbell
they really can't complain.
This is really stupid but at least not surprising coming from a frustrated school bureaucrat. But if you truly thing this is fair or a good idea, then one has to wonder what kind of sadist you are in real life or at least in your workplace.
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post #17 of 17
6/1/07 at 11:23pm
I remember at my High School graduation we had one Samoan kid in our class. He must have had every relative he'd ever known show up that night. They were going bonkers through the whole ceremony. Seemed like some of the honkeys were annoyed but it must have been a special moment for his family. Tala was a good guy too. Helluva a left tackle. I don't know what he did after High School but boy could he handle his own against any pass rush in the district.
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