The Issue
For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems.
On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.
The seemingly harsh punishment has sent the Web all aflutter. Searches on "student denied diploma" and "bonny eagle high school" are both through the roof. Additionally, blogs and news papers are chiming in with opinions on whether or not the administration overreacted. The student's mother has given interviews and is quite upset at her son's treatment. According to an article from Fox News the outraged mother said, "A bow, a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior."
But the administrators feel they were just enforcing the rules that students agreed to. At a meeting following the debacle, school superintendent Suzanne Lukas said that "if a student doesn't adhere to the expectations, then the consequences are clearly spelled out."
This isn't the first time that rambunctious (dare we say "fun"?) behavior affected a graduation ceremony at Bonny Eagle. "Four years ago we had some issues with silly string and beach balls," said Lukas. –Yahoo Buzz Log
My Issue
The is absolutely and unequivocally WRONG! If you read the rules of conduct (see rules that students agreed to above) then the entire class should have been denied their well earned diplomas. After all, the rules does specify that no inflatables were allowed. But, hell no, the inflatable is ignored, however a boy blows a kiss to his parents and is denied his diploma? What’s up with the principle and her irrational reason to deny this boy’s graduation diploma?
Ok, rules are rules. I get it ... we all get it! However, to be so stringent, come on! All the boy did was acknowledge his parents and blew them a freaking kiss! The principle needs a reality check! If this student doesn’t get his diploma the impact it will have on the rest of his life will be devastating, not only personally but professionally. Can you imagine telling a prospective employer that you didn’t graduate because you blew a kiss to your parents?
This isn’t the first incident this year in which a student was denied his diploma. Remember the graduate who attended his girlfriend’s graduation and was denied his diploma? I mean really, let the graduation class celebrate their well earned reward without all the political correctness, petty rules, and unreasonable expectations. Graduation is a time of celebration … it's a time to celebrate one’s right of passage.
Pure and simple, I think the principle needs to publicly apologize for her actions and give the boy his earned diploma. And I beg you-all to email this principle and school district demanding a reversal of this principles rude and crude decision. This is wrong, wrong, and totally wrong!
For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems.
On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.
The seemingly harsh punishment has sent the Web all aflutter. Searches on "student denied diploma" and "bonny eagle high school" are both through the roof. Additionally, blogs and news papers are chiming in with opinions on whether or not the administration overreacted. The student's mother has given interviews and is quite upset at her son's treatment. According to an article from Fox News the outraged mother said, "A bow, a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior."
But the administrators feel they were just enforcing the rules that students agreed to. At a meeting following the debacle, school superintendent Suzanne Lukas said that "if a student doesn't adhere to the expectations, then the consequences are clearly spelled out."
This isn't the first time that rambunctious (dare we say "fun"?) behavior affected a graduation ceremony at Bonny Eagle. "Four years ago we had some issues with silly string and beach balls," said Lukas. –Yahoo Buzz Log
My Issue
The is absolutely and unequivocally WRONG! If you read the rules of conduct (see rules that students agreed to above) then the entire class should have been denied their well earned diplomas. After all, the rules does specify that no inflatables were allowed. But, hell no, the inflatable is ignored, however a boy blows a kiss to his parents and is denied his diploma? What’s up with the principle and her irrational reason to deny this boy’s graduation diploma?
Ok, rules are rules. I get it ... we all get it! However, to be so stringent, come on! All the boy did was acknowledge his parents and blew them a freaking kiss! The principle needs a reality check! If this student doesn’t get his diploma the impact it will have on the rest of his life will be devastating, not only personally but professionally. Can you imagine telling a prospective employer that you didn’t graduate because you blew a kiss to your parents?
This isn’t the first incident this year in which a student was denied his diploma. Remember the graduate who attended his girlfriend’s graduation and was denied his diploma? I mean really, let the graduation class celebrate their well earned reward without all the political correctness, petty rules, and unreasonable expectations. Graduation is a time of celebration … it's a time to celebrate one’s right of passage.
Pure and simple, I think the principle needs to publicly apologize for her actions and give the boy his earned diploma. And I beg you-all to email this principle and school district demanding a reversal of this principles rude and crude decision. This is wrong, wrong, and totally wrong!
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