Illinois Students Denied Diplomas Over Cheering

I have to agree with everyone that stated they signed a contract and broke it by acting up. I recently went to my wife's younger sisters High School graduation and the same thing happened there...people with airhorns and all sorts of noise makers. At one point some guy blew his air horn right next to us and a person sitting above us simply asked him to stop doing it. The guy apparently didn't care about others being annoyed by it and continued blast the airhorn, at which point the same guy "politely" asked him to STFU, along with a few other obsenities I need not mention. I thanked the guy after the ceremony as it was very rude to continue to do something that annoyed everyone else.

It's one thing to be proud and happy that a loved one has made it through High School alive, but it's quite a different thing to act like your at a major sporting event and cheering (generally acting like a baboon) your team to the dire end. Again, they signed a contract stating they would not be allowed to exhibit that type of behavior and they broke that contract. The High School had every right to do what they did, and I would suggest that all High School's and Universities that hold these ceremonies do the exact same thing.

My oldest son recently graduated from high school and at the beginning of the ceremony, the audience was asked to refrain from cheering until the end of the ceremony for the purpose that all parents, relatives and friends could hear each students name being called.

Do you think this happened? The answer is no it didn't.

Although no diplomas were withheld, I do think the ceremony should've been stopped while the people who chose not to observe what was being asked of them be ecorted from the stadium.

Why not? The one they cheered for has already went through the line.

For the ones who see a problem with the actions this school took, lets remember that graduation is a ceremony and the celebration can come afterwards.

Has anyone seen the graduation ceremonies from West Point or Annapolis?

Very civil to say the least.

This is just another example of PC liberalism/Progressive Socialism gone amuck!!

This all started because some people may not have of had anyone 'cheer' for or their 'group' may not have friends & family cheer 'loud-enough' and may have hurt feelings...........

We can't have that now....can we.......we don't want to hurt a young adults feelings......they may cry.

Worse yet......now, as some here have shown, this 'behavior' is labeled as disruptive/rude.

Graduating is about celebrating moving on to the next stage in life...whether someone is going to college, job.....welfare (), etc.

It is sad and pathetic that the USA is becoming a NANNY STATE!!




Inter - West Point & Annapolis are military schools.......not 'regualr' schools....are you saying that all schools should act/behave like a military school?

[edit on 5-6-2007 by ferretman2]

I'm so glad to not be in highschool anymore. Back when I graduated (1991), it was "don't toss your cap or you won't get your diploma". Well, a bunch of us said "F you" and tossed them anyway. With enough of us doing it, they backed down and we got our diplomas.

I couldn't imagine that from someone cheering you on, that you don't get a diploma.

Also, it states that the student and parents had to sign the paper. How do they know it wasn't someone's friends. Or even enemy for that matter. What better way to get back at the b*tch you've hated all through highschool. Have your family and friends cheer for them so they won't recieve their diploma.

There's too many ways that they can't tell. Give the poor girl her freekin diploma already.

Originally posted by loam
Since when is it appropriate to hold someone accountable for the actions of *others*????

Good god, no wonder we have lost our minds in this country! :shk:

[edit on 2-6-2007 by loam]

Loam, it's getting crazier and crazier. You can't cheer. You can't say what's really on your mind. There are no winners or losers. It's all just a hodge podge of "everyone needs to feel good," and "everyone is equal."

Why compete? Why even try to attain good grades in school if everyone is viewed as being a "winner?"

While that is a little unrelated to this incident, if you really examine it, it hits the core of this.

Originally posted by Kamikaze X
I don't think any of you guys in here that are against what the school did have ever met "ghetto" people before. Anyone that has been around them know how loud and unruly they can be so I'm assuming that these are the kinds of people that were in attendance at the ceremonies.

That is maybe the most ignorant and stupid remark I have heard in a very long time. Galesburg, IL is not a ghetto; it is a working class town and is made up of whit, black, latino and asian families. How do you "assume" the idea that the audience members must be "ghetto people"? Because they're black? Shame on you!

A few people have mentioned that "You don't sign a contract and worry about the stipulations afterwards."

Ever ask yourself, "What happens if the student doesn't sign the contract?"

Seriously, did these students EVEN HAVE A CHOICE?!

Don't sign the contract, and we with-hold your graduation.
Sign the contract, and your diploma is with-held because of the audience.

Some f***ing choice.

This is what makes the contract illegal. It won't hold up in court, because the student really doesn't have a choice, unless he chooses not to graduate.



But hey, if you think there really is a choice, thats cool... you go ahead and start refusing to sign contracts for jobs, schools, licenses etc... we'll see how long you last.

Thank you, Stormrider.

I'm not surprised by a bunch of the comments in this thread. It's pretty common on this site, if you know where to look.:shk:

In another thread on this topic, it was mentioned that the kids whose diplomas were withheld were black or Latino, but whites were also cheering loudly. Of course, all the white kids got their diplomas.

Can't say I'm surpised, though...

Originally posted by Intelearthling

Has anyone seen the graduation ceremonies from West Point or Annapolis?

Very civil to say the least.

That may not be the best analogy, Intelearthling, since both West Point and Annapolis are military institutions and are bound by certain protocols and traditions which are altogether different than a high school graduation. They are also Universities, not high schools.

I think this reaction by the Galesburg School Board and High School were terribly overreative, to say the least. Contract or no, just how much noise can one group of five or even ten people make in an auditoruim filled with hundreds of other people? I mean think about it; cheering your graduating senior for five or even ten seconds while they cross the stage should not be an impediment to other families hearing their students name announced over a microphone and PA system.

Gee, maybe next year the school board should just send notices home to ask parents and family members to stay home altogether. That would sure fix the problem, wouldn't it?

GALESBURG, Ill. - Five students will get the diplomas they were denied when cheers erupted for them at a high school graduation, and school officials said Wednesday they would review a get-tough decorum policy.

Students receive denied diplomas

Shame those students were subjected to this. Took a lawyer to get the school to back down.

Originally posted by Stormrider

Originally posted by Kamikaze X
I don't think any of you guys in here that are against what the school did have ever met "ghetto" people before. Anyone that has been around them know how loud and unruly they can be so I'm assuming that these are the kinds of people that were in attendance at the ceremonies.

That is maybe the most ignorant and stupid remark I have heard in a very long time. Galesburg, IL is not a ghetto; it is a working class town and is made up of whit, black, latino and asian families. How do you "assume" the idea that the audience members must be "ghetto people"? Because they're black? Shame on you!

I did not assume that the people were ghetto because they were Black because in that case I would be ghetto....because guess what, I'm Black! I just assumed that a specific type of people that usually originate from and inhabit impoverished neighborhoods were the ones that caused the school to clamp down on obnoxious cheering. Me being from these neighborhoods have come to know these people as "ghetto people." As ignorant as the term may be it's the label that they have affixed to themselves so sue me if you wish. Lastly, where the school is located is not a good enough indicator as to the attendants because out here in California kids get bused in from all over the place to attend certain schools. You can have a school in a predominantly White middle class neighborhood filled with kids from all the surrounding lower class neighborhoods over here.



[edit on 6/7/07 by Kamikaze X]

Anybody notice a trend here? If you don't do this we will withhold your diploma, if you do this we'll hold your driver's license and if you do this you can't get financial aid for college. It is plain and simple. It is a way around Due Process. All of these can be accomplished by some bureaucrat, without involving the courts and there is no appeals process.

Your State can revoke your driver's license without cause and there is nothing you can do about it, because driving is a privledge. Your High School administrator can hold your diploma and there is no way to appeal it. If you are lucky you can make a big enough stink and have the School Board override him.

It all comes down to power and control. I call it the "He-Man Syndrome" after the cartoon character who used to run around yelling "I have the power!".