The dean asked that the audience withold their applause until all the graduates’ names had been read. So when Jordan XXXXX (my sister) had her name called, all of us in her section politely smiled, pumped our fists, and showed our pleasure silently. Not so for a fair number of the other graduates, whose cheering sections shouted “Woot woot!,” noisily applauded, or made all sorts of other loud noises when their graduate’s name was read.
Then there was the fact that people in the crowd were indiscriminately walking up and down the stands, going to and fro, at various times during the ceremony (I was particularly miffed at the people who felt the need to leave their seat during the benediction).
And let’s not forget the babies. At least a dozen of them, screaming at the top of their lungs at various times, while their parents tried to shush them. Here’s an idea: don’t bring a baby to a college graduation. :smack:
Am I a prudish fuddy-duddy here, or am I right to be a little miffed (and to expect more decorum from the audience at a college graduation)?
I had properly warned my family against being those people, but that didn’t stop my little brother from calling work and holding a conversation about his next day’s schedule. I thought I would strangle him when I found out.
Oh geez. At mine, there were a few CRAZY families. Screaming, yelling, air horns, etc. all during when people were speaking. Very rude. One person must’ve had their whole extended family, 20+ people, screaming and stomping their feet. Yes, graduating college is an accomplishment. Maybe your kid was even the first in the family to do so. Exciting event. But very rude to all the other students who also worked hard and their families who would like to hear their kid’s name called without you going apeshit. It was ridiculous.
I disagree, when I went to the then-bf’s graduation at a snooty Baptist school, the long-standing tradition was for friends/family to stand to recognize the graduate, a protocol that all in attendance followed.
Funnily enough, at the Uni where I work, we don’t allow children into the graduation ceremonies at all. They’re allowed into the viewing rooms where people can watch the ceremonies broadcast live on screens, but they’re not allowed into the Great Hall.
We even have security staff on the doors to keep the parents with babies and toddlers out. Some of them kick up a hell of a fuss though, even though ever bit of information sent out to graduands tell them that chidren aren’t allowed into the ceremonies.
I remember when my brother graduated from something a few years ago. I was glad he did because that meant my grandparents were going to buy me new clothes. I got a tie and nice pants and everything. My grandparents were appalled that people were showing up wearing shorts and flip-flops.
At my graduation, there were people playing beach ball, someone who ordered pizza delivery in, and several determined to show that they weren’t wearing any underwear. Or pants.
Those were the graduates.
The crowd, I assume, had long since fallen asleep from the interminable speeches. I wasn’t really paying attention, though. Since I was winning at poker.
Although I do have my handsome diploma case, so I must’ve gone up on stage at some point…
I think you’re right to be miffed. I also think we as a society have mostly lost the sense of what constitutes a solemn occasion. At my daughter’s graduation last year there were people cheering and yelling for individual graduates, to the extent that you couldn’t hear the next two or three names being called. There was a woman in our row who actually stood on her chair to see her precious walk across the stage. The graduates themselves were vamping for the fans, including the kid who was so busy bowing and doing the champion-of-the-world hand clasp over his head that he almost missed the teacher who was trying to give him his diploma. For the most part parents and family were pretty good, but the (maybe a quarter of them) ones who messed up did so in a big way.
And this was high school. I hate to think what might happen this Saturday at the older one’s college graduation.
Personally, I think the whole ceremony should come to a crashing halt at the first disruption, with an announcement made that things will resume when people can behave. They did that last year at one of the local grade schools, including escorting people out when they couldn’t act right. Worked like a charm.
People were being disruptive at a grade school graduation? What places even have graduation ceremonies for grade schools anyway? Where is this considered worthy of a ceremony?
Eighth grade. The grade schools in this case are a different district than the high schools, so the kids don’t all go on together. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it, or if it’s just a holdover from older times. It seems to be somewhat common around here.
Even at the parochial school my kids attended, they had to set up a checkpoint for balloons and such, and warn parents multiple times in all the memoes and such that no cheering and yelling would be allowed. And this was with everyone’s full knowledge that the ceremony was in the sanctuary and was actually a worship service.
I went to my boyfriend’s college graduation at the University’s largest college, and it was like a cattle call. It was outside, and you had to be there hours and hours ahead to get a spot where you could see the stage. People had to bring their own chairs, and with that came coolers, umbrellas, beach blankets. . . even barbecues. It was indistinguishable from a tailgate party at a football game.
My college’s graduation was remarkably dignified, in contrast. Don’t know if it helped that the students were all girls. My hood was on wrong and the dean stopped me on the stage to fix it for me, which was a little embarrassing. She stopped calling the names and everyone stared at me.
At my high school graduation, a large group of my friends bellowed my nickname when my full name was called. Principal gave me the stink eye when I got my diploma-- I didn’t even know they were going to do it!
Eh, I dunno, especially at a HS graduation (which I know this wasn’t), if you’re at a regular school (like not a parochial school), the graduation is serious, but I don’t know if it’s supposed to be solemn. If no one makes an announcement to hold applause until the end, then the whole crowd has to start and stop for each kid. It starts to sound forced and ridiculous. However, having your friends call your name or say good job or whatever doesn’t seem to be out of the spirit of the occasion. As long as the noise is finished by the time the next kid walks on stage and doesn’t interfere with the reading of any names, I don’t see the issue. The kid only graduates once. I know I was happy to have my friends shout my name at my HS graduation. Didn’t feel disrespectful to the other kids. Everyone got applause at the end.
This sounds just like my daughter’s high school graduation.This was a large school, with about 500 grads, so they were trying to hustle them through as quickly as possible; there was another graduation scheduled after hers, so there was a time limit.
There was an announcement in the program about holding your applause until the end, and they reiterated this before the ceremony began.
That didn’t stop some families from screaming and yelling when their kid walked across the stage. Usually it was just insanely loud screaming, sometimes it was that “WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!” that went on for a minute or two.
They did stop a couple of times to ask people to please stop, so everyone would be able to hear their child’s name called, but it didn’t stop.
And the air horns. Air horns! I’m of the opinion they should have frisked people before allowing them in.
