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I hope the day doesn't come when people start tossing blow-up dolls at funerals...
I believe in pre-arranged funerals to ease the financial and emotional burden on a family.
In lieu of funerals, our family has celebration of life services. They are truly joyful events intended to reflect the life of the departed. In our case, there is far more laughter than tears. I'm thinking of adding a request for a blowup man-doll for my service!!
Seriously though, high school graduation is often the last hurrah for many students. And college graduation for the rest. It is the last step before adulthood - rules, responsibilities, conforming, etc. Why not one last chance to push (but not break) the rules? We have the rest of our lives to become our parents.
they want an outlandish moment to act out- and laugh about later on..
if you look ,,, most all the traditions and ceremonies are being trashed on,,,people dont seem to care anymore and god forbid you make a judgement (gasp)
i lay alot on the parents- if my kid made lewd gesture while on stage-this would embarrass the whole family
and i would be VERY disappointed
only a few times in life are most of us in formal ceremonies,,,is it too much to ask that it is civil?? or do you always have to justify,,the lowest common denominator?
I remember our high school graduation,,,a few kids wanted to set off firecrackers because it would be "funny" and memorable,,, well, one girl stood up and said what a high school diploma meant to her immigrant grandmother and she would have no part of it,,, but that made some of us realize,,this is a formal procedure for a reason
Exactly, I would never even think of doing the stuff like the OP described at my graduation next year. Why does everything have to be fun? Like you said there are only a few times in life where we are in a formal ceremony. It's just disappointing the way society has become in general.
In lieu of funerals, our family has celebration of life services. They are truly joyful events intended to reflect the life of the departed. In our case, there is far more laughter than tears. I'm thinking of adding a request for a blowup man-doll for my service!!
I'll have them pay for a harem of handsome men to dance at mine.
Both my high school graduation and college graduation were pretty tame, and this was on the West Coast. We all just wanted to get out of there so both ceremonies were very quick. This was within the past 6 years.
Maybe it is just different for different generations, I really don't understand why a graduation should be a solemn event instead of a celebratory one.
I believe the graduates can cut loose with all the celebration, humor, and silliness they want at the end of the ceremony or their individual grad parties. Our only difference is about the timing of the celebratory actions! There are people even older than their parents attending and just think of them during the ceremony.
I remember my HS graduation 7 years back....no wait I don't, it really was that forgettable. I would've skipped it if given the choice, not to mention I couldn't hear the freaking speakers half the time over the high winds. Yep, forgettable indeed.
I believe the graduates can cut loose with all the celebration, humor, and silliness they want at the end of the ceremony or their individual grad parties. Our only difference is about the timing of the celebratory actions! There are people even older than their parents attending and just think of them during the ceremony.
Then what is the point of the graduation itself if not to celebrate?
Maybe this is a sign that society is actually lightening up and realizing that a graduation ceremony is a time to celebrate, not a time to act as if you are at a funeral. It is just a ceremony, it doesn't mean all that much. I wouldn't have attended my college or grad school's graduation if my parents wouldn't have cared so much.
I went to college and grad school to learn certain skills, a graduation ceremony does nothing for me and doesn't say anything about my education or ability.
Agreed. And these graduation ceremonies have generally turned into one big ego stroke for the admins and other faculty. It seems to be more about them than anything.
Students generally dont care one way or the other about graduation. They're boring and way too long.
Graduation ceremonies are a time of celebration for those family members or friends who have achieved a significant milestone in their lives, whether it be a graduation from high school, college, or some other significant achievement.
Over the years, it has become more apparent that civil behavior at ceremonies has been on the decline. Today, it is not uncommon to hear hoots and hollers, whoot-whoots, loud yelling, screams, and even air horns.
All of this makes you think, when did it become acceptable to behave in such a manner at a ceremony that is supposed to be serious?
At a recent high school graduation ceremony, observed were graduating students batting beach balls, blow-up animals, and even a blow-up sex doll amongst the various graduates. At first, it seemed as though school officials were resigned to let it happen. However, as the number of pool toys increased, school officials stepped in and conviscated the toys. Even then, only one student was ejected from the ceremony.
What was even more shocking was the public's reaction to the ejected student, a student of whom when being asked to leave stripped off his robe in front of everyone, used hand gestures, and acted as though he was going to "moon" the entire crowd. The crowd began to boo. This at a graduation ceremony? The crowd seemed more concerned about supporting an unruly student than maintaining proper decorum and civility at the ceremony. Amongst the boos, you heard people yelling, "he didn't do anything", and then in almost unison, the crowd chanted, "let him back in", while they stomped on the bleacher floor. This whole incident caused the ceremony to be delayed, and even after they restarted the graduation, the crowd still wanted to talk and show their displeasure. Seriously, while this was going on, it felt as though I was sitting in the stands of the stadium displayed in the movie, "Idiocracy", whereby the crowd was cheering on uncivil behavior.
The student's behavior as they crossed the stage was also just as dissappointing. About eighty percent of the students felt the need to give a "shout-out" gesture to the crowd as they crossed the stage. Amongst these "shout-outs" were various dances, hand signs, back flips, etc. The school officials didn't try to prevent this type of behavior. There were even students grabbing their crotches and doing "booty dances" on the stage. One even imitated moving down on a stripper pole.
The whole ceremony was surreal. Not only did all of the above occur, but some people were using airhorns when their graduate walked across the stage, which drowned out the beginning anticipation of the next graduate.
At a promotion on this same trip, I experienced people leaving early after their graduate was called. When the crowd was asked to stay seated until all graduates had left the building, a full one-third of the audience got up anyway and proceeded to leave the building, despite graduates still on the floor within the building.
The prior episodes took place at a ceremonies attended out of state on the west coast. I'm not certain if things are less civil in that part of the country, but even in the South, where I'm from, while attending a college graduation, I experienced the following:
-Air Horn blared off at a college graduation
-Non-Stop talking by some people during the ceremony
-People up and down throughout the ceremony
-Loud screams and yelling, almost a "cat call" variety
What has happened? When I graduated from college nearly fifteen years ago, I saw nothing more than a few mild yells, and even then, it wasn't but a fraction of the graduates. Now, I'm seeing about eighty percent of the graduates' names followed by loud yells, as well as various other rude behaviors found randomely throughout. When I graduated from high school nearly twenty years ago, behaviors like I seen would have resulted in at least two dozen students being ejected from the ceremony. The ceremony would have been stopped for each instance. The crowd definitely wouldn't have cheered those misbehaving, for such behavior is savagery.
Is this more evidence that society is becoming dumber and less civil? An "Idiocracy", have you. Other things noticed were people on their phones during the ceremony, not for pictures, but talking, texting, and on facebook. Some attenders at the graduations were wearing t-shirts displaying sexual and graphic language. What is going on? Is society becoming dumber and less civil? Have you experienced anything of the sort like this?
Who cares? It's their ceremony. Let them do what they want.
Hah! High school. Chill out, a high school diploma is little more than toilet paper in its worth. If they manage to survive college, they'll see a generally more respectful atmosphere.
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