High School Graduation Ceremony Arrests

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/06/graduation-disruptions-part-changing-sense-us-decorum-etiquette-coaches-say/

It's an indicator of the level to which our society has sunk when reports of arrests for disorderly conduct at High School graduation ceremonies are good news.

Our natural reaction is to assume that the police and school administrators have overreacted. I mean, how can people be ejected from, or arrested for, their child's/brother's/sister's  graduation? Isn't this a day to have fun?

Thgis ignores what has been going on.

Our culture has been steadily losing its sense of protocol. Many of us want to be the the one who displays the greatest amount of approval and to do so in the loudest manner. We have decided to tell ourselves that our child will not enjoy his or her ceremony if they do not hear us cheering wildy as we did when, for example, our son drove in the tying run when his team was down to its last two outs in his Little League tournament game.

In reality, it is our own pride and selfishness that is driving these incredibly rude and unsympathetic displays.

They are terribly rude as our tradition calls for either very brief rounds of applause or, depending on the particular school's policy, an outright holding back from all applause until all the graduates have completed their walk and have sat down.

They are unsympathetic as and loud and/or sustained outburst from a selfish spectator often carry over to the announcement of the following student. While Johnny's Mom got to hear her kid's name get called, Susan's Mom did not.

At my the High School graduation of my oldest four years ago, I had witnessed several of these events occur. The worst was when a clean-cut (Blond and businesslike), athletic-looking man, who I assumed was an older brother, let loose a torrent of aggressive shouts of his graduate's name. Shouts of "Yeah, Lisa", "You did it Lisa", "Aaalright Lisa", and "Yeah!, Yeah!" went on for what had to be six or seven full seconds. This was accompanied by a repeated punching into the air in the direction of the ceremony.

That occurred over into all of the next graduate's name announcement and fully half of the one following that.

Many of the crowd, seemingly too timid to say anything to the man, nervously looked at each other and giggled.

I was furious and thought to myself that we all were fortunate that my kid's time was a few students after that. At that moment, I didn't think that I would have held back from issuing a few expletives at the jerk if mine had been one of the two following the graduate who apparently deserved more and louder congratulations than everyone else. To this day, I wonder if it would have ended with a fistfight and my arrest if my kid's announcement had been ruined and my response was met with an escalation on the part of the jerk. Mind you, I am in my mid-forties, have not thrown a punch since my High School years (When I was struck first) and at the time was over three years away from retirement from Law Enforcement. I have no doubt that my employer would not look kindly on me had anything of the sort happened.

While I got to hear her name being called and was able to set up and snap some photos, my enjoyment of that event was severely impaired since I was bracing for another possible breach of protocol from another spectator.

These school policies, including having extra cops to watch the crowd, were put into place only because so many people had decided that they would do whatever they wanted - basic manners and protocol be damned. Air horns, whistles, loud and sustained shouting had become all-to-common.

We have devolved from a culture in which people know when to be reserved into people who will run others over at toy sales or Easter egg hunts, give each other the finger or drop curse words for anything, and care nothing for the hurt feelings of parents who just wanted to treasure the moment of their kid's graduation from High School. I also have no doubt that the Graduates themselves will hear the outburst from the crowd as their own name is called and be similarly disappointed.

As the arrest demonstrated, and I also read about several nationwide last year, even what should be unnecessary pleas and warnings from school administrators are being ignored.

I don't care what the school says, I will do what I want.

Another post on the decline of our manners:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2012/01/failure-to-address-refusal-to-shake.html