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In our opinion...
A graduation ceremony is just that: a ceremony. It isn't a party or sporting event, even if it is in a stadium. Poor manners caused this year's ceremony to be less enjoyable for many.
Cell phones and noisy ring tones were out in force, with graduates talking or texting and family members chatting away, asking their graduates on the field to wave so the family sitting in the stands could see them.
Graduates and audience members should refrain from using their cell phones during the ceremony.
Maybe school officials could hold onto the graduates' cell phones during the ceremony and could remind audience members to turn their phones off during the proceedings or at least set them to vibrate.
During the event, the crowd was so noisy, it was difficult to hear the speeches. Everyone who speaks at commencement works very hard on their addresses, so it is disheartening not to hear those words. Audience members should visit before and after, not during the event.
Like every year, some students presented items to the principal before receiving their diplomas. While some of the items were tokens of appreciation or goofy inside jokes, others seemed to take away from the tone of the evening.
Maybe students should present those items to high school staff at baccalaureate or the all-night class party and not during graduation.
Family members and friends who were trying to take pictures of their graduates kept blocking each other in the chaos to get their shots of the momentous occasion. But in the rush to capture the moment, do we sometimes miss it? Maybe the school should encourage families to wait and take photos after the ceremony, perhaps giving them the chance to take pictures of their graduate with their new dipolma on the stage or with school officials.
The track became overflow seating for late-coming family and friends, instead of the handicapped seating and a designated area for the official videographer and photographer it was supposed to be. Maybe more official seating is needed.
Parents should also have more control over their children. Some younger attendees actually went out in the field, some to chase a balloon, others just to walk around.
Down on the track, a handful of children walked in front of the professional photographer well over a dozen times, blocking his shots as he tried to catch each graduate with their diploma as they walked off the stage.
Confusion at the end of the ceremony meant the crowd of family and friends flooded the field as soon as caps were tossed in the air. Instead of watching the graduates march out of the stadium, the ceremony came to an awkward end with less pomp and circumstance than the graduates deserved. Maybe the high school could have ushers on hand to direct traffic and control the crowd, not allowing anyone on the track until the graduates have marched back out.
Graduation does not have to be a somber event. It should be a celebration of a significant accomplishment.
The memories of graduation will last a lifetime for the students and their families. We should hope that those memories will be of a completely positive and joyful experience.
