# I think pre-secondary "graduation" ceremonies are stupid. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781 "2006-08-15T04:54:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/41 "2006-08-16T05:37:31Z")
[QUOTE=araminty] so in case anyone ever asks, yes, I have graduated from Disney Sea University. Blargh. [/QUOTE] Ugh. That sounds WAY too much like Scientology’s Sea Org. ---
**Author:** ![Comadrona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Comadrona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Comadrona)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/42 "2012-12-10T11:38:28Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > See, those guys I’m cool with. > > Most of us would have gone through the event slackjawed because… heck, we’re like 12 years old… you’re cool for skipping your elementary grad ceremony. > > There’s always a “high school graduation” song out every few years. Maybe it’s time for JoJo to put one out for the elementary/junior high set? > > What really gets me going is that you can probably buy greeting cards for this… [oh shit, it seems you can!](http://www.graduationcardsshop.com/kindergarten_preschool/cards/productlisting-5-31.htm) So they actually have greeting cards for Home School graduations… hahahahahahaha! Not that I have anything against home-schooling per se, but who are they going to graduate with? There will be one person in each cohort (unless there are twins). Ridiculous and very cynical of the greeting card people. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/43 "2012-12-10T11:56:29Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Ah, the memories. Of course, I nicked a shirt and cap, so in case anyone ever asks, yes, I have graduated from Disney Sea University. Blargh. Fuck that sounds goofy. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/44 "2012-12-10T18:31:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ugh. That sounds WAY too much like Scientology’s Sea Org. I’m sure there’s way less brainwashing. In Sea Org, I mean. :dubious: Semi-hijack: Do they have musical revues on those Disney cruises? And do they ever do “Under the Sea” from _The Little Mermaid_? I bet they wouldn’t. Not in a ship that’s only one misplaced iceberg (or careless cargo ship) away from being “under the sea”. But it’s Disney. Maybe they have hubris like that.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/45 "2012-12-10T19:29:00Z")
This little snipped from The Incredibles might be relevant - I always found it very much to the point: > [@](#): > > HELEN > I can’t believe you don’t want to go to your own son’s graduation. > > BOB > It’s not a graduation. He’s moving from the fourth grade to the fifth grade. > > HELEN > It’s a ceremony! > > BOB > It’s psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity but if someone is genuinely exceptional… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/46 "2012-12-11T00:30:59Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Just the idea that there are kids who have graduated from K, elementary, and middle schools pisses me off. Anyone else? Yes. stick a tiny gold star on the forehead of each of your special snowflakes and launch them out the door with the toe of your boot. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/47 "2012-12-11T00:57:33Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > My aunt has a picture of my cousin at his kindergarten graduation. What the fuck…? If you want to have a ceremony promoting kids to first grade, cool. But if you put on a cap and gown and call it a graduation, you’ve crossed a line. I agree with your WTF. I vaguely remember some sort of ceremony when I left elementary and/or middle school, but I don’t think it was called a graduation, and it sure as heck didn’t involve a cap and gown. In my opinion, a “real” graduation is involves getting a diploma, and getting a diploma is recognition for completing some substantial requirements, after which at least some of the graduates have completed their education and are now ready to go out into the world and start their careers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/48 "2012-12-11T01:02:18Z")
My kid had a kindergarten graduation. No caps or gowns, just the kids doing cute stuff. It was sweet and funny and the kids had a great time and the parents took cute pictures. I have no idea what problem anyone could have with such a gentle, innocuous little celebration. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/49 "2012-12-11T02:01:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > My kid had a kindergarten graduation. No caps or gowns, just the kids doing cute stuff. > > It was sweet and funny and the kids had a great time and the parents took cute pictures. I have no idea what problem anyone could have with such a gentle, innocuous little celebration. There’s nothing wrong with it. It can be fun and stupid at the same time. Enjoy. However, when I was in grade school they gave us all a trophy for participating in sports one year. I was old enough to understand it was a meaningless acknowledgement of achievement. That realization seems to have died in recent generations of underachievers. I think that was the point of the thread. Could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/50 "2012-12-11T02:39:39Z")
Of course the little zombies that were graduating 6th grade when this thread started are about to graduate high school now! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/51 "2012-12-11T02:52:24Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Of course the little zombies that were graduating 6th grade when this thread started are about to graduate high school now! always an optimist in the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781/52 "2012-12-14T07:05:44Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I had an elementary school graduation in 1969, and a junior high graduation in 1972, but they were fairly understated. There weren’t caps and gowns, and it wasn’t something we were urged to have excessive pride in. It was more a rite of passage than anything else. Seeing that the thread has been zombified and all that… I don’t remember if I mentioned how, on the occasion of that 6th grade “graduation”, the teacher and the principal so pointedly stressed that it wasn’t a graduation, but a culmination. And the 9th grade “graduation” was odd. Although it was our last of three years in that school, it was the first year of high school in the official sense. Any end-of-term grade (mark) you got during that year counted toward your total GPA for college admission. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-pre-secondary-graduation-ceremonies-are-stupid/368781.md?page=2)