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I think there are a number of factors that are influencing this type of behavior.
First of all, many Americans growing up now haven't been socialized to distinguish between "fun time" and "serious time". I used to live in Europe, and the distinction is much more pronounced there. There are unspoken rules about decorum; for example, you don't wear sweat pants to the opera or swimwear in town, you don't pound drinks until you vomit, etc. The American sense of individualism and "freedom" sometimes chafes at these rules, but I personally find it more comfortable knowing what's expected where.
Secondly, people are much more isolated from more formal ritualized experiences like attending the theater or going to (a liturgical) church. If the only group activities you know are sporting events and beach barbeques, it's hard to mentally shift gears when you are expected to sit, stand, be quiet, etc.
Thirdly, the rise of Sensing Perceivers (SPs) in American life, specifically in academic life. The MBTI personality test identifies four temperaments in the general population. The two most prevalent temperaments in the US are SJs (traditionalists, work hard, "a rule's a rule") and SPs (spontaneity, play hard, "let's have fun!"), and the conflict between the two has been an on-going issue since our nation's founding.
As employers have increasingly demanded college degrees, more SPs --- who in the past would have entered trades --- have had to attend universities, where they endure "boring stuff" (reading, attending class, sitting still) in hopes of the payoff (lots of money). SP culture is celebrated in popular music and TV shows, and its influence is expressed more and more in everyday American life.
I know some would characterize any criticism of "fun" as "pearl-clutching", but I share the OP's sentiment, although I think the coarsening of social norms is inevitable.
I thought I was the only one who felt this way; last graduation I attended just made me sad, because it seems to have lost its dignity. Graduations, which we now do for preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school, are no longer a once-in-a-lifetime event, with only a very select few getting a second round, and so have become no big deal. It is just one more example of how we have cheapen something that used to be special.
My daughter graduated from college two weeks ago, and there was something on the website about "No beach balls". I would have wondered at that except that there was a similar thread to this one on City-Data last year and I'd heard about people tossing beach balls at a graduation. Have never seen that.
The biggest issue at the actual graduation was that I got there more than an hour early because I was carting along my 84-year-old mother, and I had to get her to the handicapped parking area and then walk with her and her cane slowly to find a seat. I wanted to make sure she had to walk as short a distance as possible and that she could sit somewhere that she could see whatever. We were one of the first ones there and sat in a front row of folding chairs (it was outside) where she would at least be able to see the stage.
As the place filled up and the graduation began, a horde of rude latecomers walked all the way down and STOOD in front of us, blocking our view. I was getting annoyed, but before I could say anything, a man sitting in my row who had also gotten there very early jumped up and started yelling at these people to move. They just sort of looked at him, and then he went and got the security people, who did make all of them move. They told them, very nicely, that they were not permitted to stand in the way and block the seated people's view and either pointed out where there were seats open or told them to go to the back. One woman actually had the nerve to say, "But I can't SEE back there!", at which point my row neighbor yelled, "Do you think WE can see through YOU? Next time get here 90 minutes early like we did." But I have to say, the college people did a good job of relocating the blockers.
This university does not call out the graduates' names at the actual commencement. They do that at departmental recognition ceremonies in the days before the graduation. At one of those that we attended for my daughter, there were some idiots who screeched and screamed and hooted when their family member's name was called. It was childish and ridiculous. At one point, my daughter's boyfriend was standing next to one of these idiot families and wasn't expecting the noise they made. He almost jumped out of his skin, lol.
My high school graduation was a joke. First, I moved to a different city, same state, but different school district my JR year. No big deal, except that the school I moved into did not like "outsiders" and many of the classes I took at the other school would not count toward my graduation. When My SR year ended, I was one class short of graduating, so I stayed in and took a summer class. I was so angry about the way I had been treated that I skipped the joke of a graduation ceremony they offered in August, and went on to college like nothing happened.
The school, for whatever reason, refused to give me my diploma, and to this day, I have no high school diploma with which to hang on the wall with my college degrees or professional certificates, or even to use as a waste can liner. It is debatable whether I actually graduated or not, but since I had very high SAT scores which got me into college, and after years of college success, no one really cares about high school. A very unhappy time in my life which I would be happy to forget.
I saw much of this untoward behavior several years ago when my daughter graduated from the University of Illinois, most of it from the families of students getting degrees in "Communications".
When my oldest graduated from college, the ceremony was long, and the speaker was Angela Landsbury. The kids had little if any idea of who she was. She was speaking to the students graduating with degrees in arts and science, and spoke as though they were all theater majors. Meanwhile, most of them had earned degrees in the sciences. In spite of that, the ceremony was rather subdued, with no loud cheering. I think we were all bored into a catatonic state.
The high school graduations of the next two were held outdoors in the football stadium, and were somewhat entertaining. There wasn't a lot of indecorous behavior on the student end, but they did try to make it memorable. The principal was retiring at the end of the school year, and his passion was golf. Each graduate handed him a golf ball as they received their diploma. It really was funny watching him juggle them. The next year the students each handed the new principal a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, which, when assembled, was a picture of the senior class.
We have two more college graduations next spring. Unfortunately, they occur the same day, at schools 4.5 hours apart. I think we might check out the scheduled speakers before deciding which direction to head in.
My daughter graduated from college two weeks ago, and there was something on the website about "No beach balls". I would have wondered at that except that there was a similar thread to this one on City-Data last year and I'd heard about people tossing beach balls at a graduation. Have never seen that.
The biggest issue at the actual graduation was that I got there more than an hour early because I was carting along my 84-year-old mother, and I had to get her to the handicapped parking area and then walk with her and her cane slowly to find a seat. I wanted to make sure she had to walk as short a distance as possible and that she could sit somewhere that she could see whatever. We were one of the first ones there and sat in a front row of folding chairs (it was outside) where she would at least be able to see the stage.
As the place filled up and the graduation began, a horde of rude latecomers walked all the way down and STOOD in front of us, blocking our view. I was getting annoyed, but before I could say anything, a man sitting in my row who had also gotten there very early jumped up and started yelling at these people to move. They just sort of looked at him, and then he went and got the security people, who did make all of them move. They told them, very nicely, that they were not permitted to stand in the way and block the seated people's view and either pointed out where there were seats open or told them to go to the back. One woman actually had the nerve to say, "But I can't SEE back there!", at which point my row neighbor yelled, "Do you think WE can see through YOU? Next time get here 90 minutes early like we did." But I have to say, the college people did a good job of relocating the blockers.
This university does not call out the graduates' names at the actual commencement. They do that at departmental recognition ceremonies in the days before the graduation. At one of those that we attended for my daughter, there were some idiots who screeched and screamed and hooted when their family member's name was called. It was childish and ridiculous. At one point, my daughter's boyfriend was standing next to one of these idiot families and wasn't expecting the noise they made. He almost jumped out of his skin, lol.
I attended two departmental graduations at the U of CO Health Science Campus last week, in public health and pharmacy. The PH host said it was OK to cheer for your grad. That's about all anyone did. It was so thrilling to see my daughter get called up for her master's in public health. There were about 8 people there for her; it was really neat.
The pharmacy grad was outside and a beach ball did appear. It came to me, and I hit it. I didn't really think it was *that* bad.
We arrived at both ceremonies early, and did get seats near the front. The latecomers didn't try to horn in.
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