Institutional Arrogance - Schools denying diplomas

Originally posted by onequestion
People in this country are becoming more absurd everyday.

Eh..people were always just as absurd. It's the communications revolution that is bringing all these reports to your eyes and ears. That's all.

Originally posted by CIAGypsy
reply to post by tovenar

 

With all due respect, your post was just absurd to the extreme. No one is saying or suggesting that people should be allowed to do whatever they want or flaunt the law (in the case of wearing ass-less chaps). But you also don't need the extreme in the other direction and have such rigidity that you don't work with people who have extenuating circumstances. I mean COME ON....if my kid had been the one in the hospital and the principal refused to allow my kid to graduate because they had been in the hospital during the rehearsal, I'd have been raging pi$$ed. As I already said, this is a very important psychological moment for these kids....and to deny them that moment because you want a power trip and refuse to use common sense, well...you deserve to be taken to the woodshed.

On the other hand, a graduation ceremony was originally honoring a group of people that had achieved something together. Nobody wants to go to a rehearsal; everybody has other things to do. I'm sure you're kid was not the only one with obligations that day.

Honestly, did she even talk with the potential employer about the scheduling conflict. As an employer myself, I'd be tickled with a prospect who needed to reschedule an interview because they were receiving an academic honor. I cannot imagine any employer feeling otherwise. But even if this boss did.... seriously, how many times will she graduate from High School, versus how many times will she apply for a job over the course of her working life?

In the old days, community was an American value; a group of graduates, saw themselves as a community who had achieved something together. All the graduation dress was .... "uniform" as a way of expressing that community. Insistence in displaying individuality shows how we have thrown away community as a value, and replaced it with mass consumer culture, where the emphasis is on ME and how my case is unique. My heritage, My awards, My honors. And so the insistence on a personal emblem, whether religious symbol or fraternity logo, is bringing up what OTHER community I value besides the one I'm participating in, right now.

At this point, community and group achievement has no value; and it's all about the individual who earned a diploma as a hallmark of PERSONAL success.

As that point, we can forget about pretending to be a community. Just email a pdf of the diploma that kids can post on their facebook page.

reply to post by KingErik


You may be right. I do remember however that for a time in America there was a culture of respect and integrity. We no longer have that culture.

Were suppose to be Americans people, we were the greatest nation on earth for reason and its because of our culture, or what was our culture.