School official presses charges for cheering at graduation

Parent Cafe
1

http://news.yahoo.com/school-official-presses-charges-cheering-graduation-211514759.html#

I wish there was a simple solution to this problem, because I like the request that parents hold their applause until after all the graduate names are called. In my opinion commencement ceremonies are long enough.

2

I think crime rates there must be very very low if the police have time to issue tickets for cheering at graduation.

3

Update: School superintendent drops graduation cheering charges

http://news.yahoo.com/mississippi-school-district-drops-cheering-charges-132103220.html

4

It’s ridiculous to charge people. Cheering is free speech. But cheering so that your cheers drown out the names of others is rude beyond belief.

5

I had to realize that HS graduation may be the high point of some of these student’s lives so go ahead and celebrate. Yes, it would be nice if they didn’t cover up another kid’s name but hopefully this one day isn’t going to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

6

I found one of the comments after the article interesting. It compared the Superintendent’s actions with the attempt by some parents to teach their child a lesson by “shaming” them. Lately, I think we’ve all seen examples of this on the news. A parent posts a shaming video or picture, where they force their child to stand by the street with a poster informing the world of some transgression. It’s troubling and sad that people feel like they have to resort to this in order to get results.

7

My mother couldn’t attend my d’14’s graduation. We learned during d’11’s that the raucous cheering, bells, whistles, and blasting air horns (yes, air horns) was more than her head could bear. To say she was upset was an understatement. A loud event at the end? No problem, but the constant assault of high decibels for the length of time to award hundreds of diplomas? This isn’t just an issue of making a ceremony longer or covering up someone’s name (and believe me, those are bad enough). There are venues where hootin and hollerin are to be expected and encouraged. Graduation should not be one of them, and I wish there was some was to ensure more decorous behavior. My rights stop at the end of your nose (or ears), kwim?