Student not allowed to graduate

[MMEand1]

Did anyone see this story?

http://www.wmtw.com/education/19766393/detail.html

In short, a high school grad went up on stage to get his diploma and bowed and blew his mom a kiss and was told that there was no fooling around and was sent back to his seat without his diploma!!! Outrageous! There were several beach balls being tossed and the superintendent turned around and told the grads that it looked like several more may not be graduating if that continued! I am outraged at the militant behavior of this woman! She sent one student to sit with the faculty and another one to sit with a Deputy. Was it really hurting anything to blow his mom a kiss? Is that any reason not to let him get his diploma? What am I missing here?

[elizabethkott]

This is out of control ridiculous. As a high school teacher who attends graduation every year, I can tell you that at my school, taking a bow and blowing a kiss is not considered to be "fooling around", nor would ANY student be denied their diploma on the day of graduation for behavior like that.

[Piglet]

Seriously crazy!! WTF??

[JTsMom]

Holy power trip Batman! I'd be fuming.

[TwinFoxes]

Serious power trip. I'm sure technically he graduated, and will receive a diploma. That won't make his mom feel any better though. :( I watched the video, I really thought there would be more to it than just blowing a kiss and bowing, but it was really mild compared to things I've seen at college graduations, let alone high school!

[vludmilla]

Serious power trip. I'm sure technically he graduated, and will receive a diploma. That won't make his mom feel any better though. :( I watched the video, I really thought there would be more to it than just blowing a kiss and bowing, but it was really mild compared to things I've seen at college graduations, let alone high school!

I agree. He is surely receiving his diploma. And, I seriously doubt that it was merely blowing a kiss to mom. Schools have their hands full with seniors who tend to get a little silly and sometimes worse at this time of year. I'm not outraged.

[kijip]

I can't figure out the superintendent's rationale for this decision at all. It seems ineffective at best and a major power trip at worst.

[rgors]

And, I seriously doubt that it was merely blowing a kiss to mom.

I watched the video. It is a LITTLE more than blowing a kiss to his mom, but it is seriously seriously mild. It doesn't even approach "showboating" in my book. As his mother, I would be furious!!!

Go to: http://www.wmtw.com/video/19771332/index.html

click on "student denied diploma tells his story"

The student is crossing the stage from time marker 1:00 to 1:15 in the video.

There are other relevant videos on this page that probably have the same clip.

[mommy111]

The student probably technically still graduated, and will get his diploma. This post just really caught my attention, because at home in the US we would totally think 'power trip'. Now that we're posted in Asia and DD is going to school here, there is so much emphasis on discipline that you could totally be denied in this circumstance. At DD's school (which starts at 8am!!!) you are sent back home if you arrive at 8:02.

[Snow mom]

My own high school graduation had similar rules. I can't exactly remember their rational-- maybe something about detracting from the experience of others that have worked hard and that the ceremony means a lot to??? I thought it was BS of course, but I don't think it's that uncommon. Anyway, the folder you were handed on stage didn't contain your diploma. That way you had to behave for the entire ceremony or your diploma would be withheld. You weren't allowed to modify your cap and gown in any way, no goofing around, stand and sit with your group, and walk calmly, shake hand, take diploma holder, etc. One of my friends had her diploma withheld for having something on her cap. Her mom had to meet with the principal before she could receive it. It was funny because she was a really well behaved, 4.0 type student.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Could you imagine how awful that school must be on a day to day basis if they freaked out about that??

Beth

[Ceepa]

Did we hear the school's side of the story? I think the administration brought a lot of unnecessary drama upon themselves with this incident BUT for all we know the administration had spoken clearly to everyone about expectations for the ceremony.

I'm not expressing myself well but regardless of how lame it may seem if the rules were that everyone was expected to walk across the stage shake hands and return to their seats then that's it, IMO. Apparently everyone had to sign a code of conduct beforehand. And maybe with this particular group of students they had a history of acting up. Either way he'll still get his diploma.

[vonfirmath]

If the expectations were expressed ahead of time, I applaud the school for being willing to risk public outcry and actually FOLLOW through with what they said the consequences would be.