It's Graduation Time, Let Idiocy Reign!
After all these years I do not think happily back on my high school graduation. It was a time of flat out lies by administration, and for the students one last swift kick in the crotch.
We were told to come up with a senior song, it would be performed at our graduation ceremony. We had two weeks to do it. A week of nominations, and a vote. We were finished ahead of time, and our choice made it into the school paper, the last issue of that school year. Our class had to make up for the cheesy choice that the other four or more classes before us made. They had the same right to choose as we did and every one of them chose "Friends". We had our nominations and when the ballot was put before us, "Friends" wasn't even on it. We had ten to choose from and our song was chosen by an 80% majority.
So graduation day happened we were there, our parents were in the stands and the principal announces to the crowd that the senior song was chosen by us and then they played "Friends". And we couldn't do anything about it.
You see, we had rules, and I went to public school. Every male must wear black or navy dress pants, dress shoes, a white shirt and a tie. Women must wear ankle length dresses or black slacks. Over top of this would be our gown which covered up every inch of what we wore. We were warned that if we did not have on the right clothing we would not be allowed to graduate. When we lined up teachers demanded we pull our gowns up to prove that we had all approprite attire.
Well, I sat though having to dress just so, and I was inspected three times by three different teachers. I got to my assigned seat, things started and soon we were sang "friends" as our class song. Oh no you didn't! It is officially on!
Dress shoes unlike sneakers slip on and off very easily. Shoes are removed and under my chair. Done. Dress socks are removed and placed inside of shoes under chair. Dress pants are a great deal easier to remove than jeans. Good. Done.
I got my diploma sans, shoes, socks, or pants. My only disappointment had to be the fact that no one really noticed, since the gown covered up everything anyway.
Now like a spectre every year at the same time some other group of graduates find themselves kicked squarely in the crotch and I fume.
A student is banned from participating in graduation. Why? She happened to be pregnet at the time. She walked anyway, and announced her own name. Good for her!
A year book gets pulled because some parent had a problem with a superlative, or maybe with just who was voted "Most Whipped". Personally I think this bitty has a real problem with interracial dating and needs to get over it or get hit by a train. Her choice.
Here's a Valedictorian who wasn't given his diploma, it had nothing to do with his outstanding grades though, apparently the principal simply didn't like his speech. Wait until that principal hears mine. I've got your speech riiiight here! Butthead.
Here's another valedictorian who wasn't allowed to give credit to her inspiration to graduate in her speech. Fortunately sanity prevailed and she was allowed to exercise free speech. Attention school people, you might be giving the education, but once you give it you can't take it back or claim ownership of it.
There are others, but this is making me tense, and I like being more relaxed and composed when I go to acupuncture.
Comments
I think it says volumes about the kids that are graduating these days that can take a picture like the "whipped" picture, and NOT assign the slavery meaning to it. I think that it is interesting that it took an older person - his mother, even, to object and assign that meaning to it. I think it's doubly so that his response has been: Perhaps least upset by the photo is Richards, 19, who is bound for Florida Atlantic University after graduation next week. In fact, he came up with the idea.
Richards said he and Finley thought it would set them apart from the other superlative students striking traditional poses. They have broken up since the photo was taken, he said, but remain close friends and have the same opinion of the photo.
"We don't see a problem with it," Richards said before referencing the Roots character that haunted his mother when she saw the photo. "Kunta Kinte ? that was over 300 years ago."
He also believes his mother and those who might share her anxiety think differently about racism and slavery because of their age. He and his peers aren't as conscious of race, he said.
"If there was a black girl doing this in the picture, it wouldn't be an issue," Richards said.
A number of black students were standing around when the photo was taken and nobody protested, he said. "These are people who if they had a problem would have let us know," he said."
To be able to move beyond the social bonds and misconceptions of your parents and grandparents - that's power. This new generation is awesome.
Posted by: Sara | May 25, 2005 1:56 PM