But the point is that these parents know that this is going to be the greatest accomplishment of their kids lives. Therefore they want the rest of the community to know that they won't be hearing from the parents again.

JohnC - Exactly.

I teach high school; for some, graduating would be nearly the same effort as curing cancer BUT that effort has already passed and this is the recognition of that effort. If you cannot tell your child throughout their struggle in HS how proud of them, how honored you are of them and how pleased you are that they are finding their way in life, no amount of applause, horns, balloons and ruckus will compensate for the lack of decent parenting.

Honestly, I have had many, many more and greater accomplishments than high school. If high school graduation is truly as good as it gets... whew! that sucks... nowhere but down? yikes!

In the 21st Century, who would have thought that common sense, respect and courtesy needs to be reminded when attending a reflective commencement ceremony.

This isn't a pep rally.

Save the partying and whooping for later.

Hopefully you don't whistle & scream during a baptismal ceremony or a wedding ceremony.

One of life's "accomplishments" is behaving appropriately.

I have been teaching both high school and college for over 30 years...have come to the conclusion that the noise made by the family is in inverse correlation to the student's grade point average. The lower the average, the louder the family.

Believe it or not, being a republican has nothing to do with it. I see no reason for punishing kids for wanting to celebrate. But please continue making it a political issue, its what your kind does best isn't it?

Conservative republican here - just got back tonight from my son's Graduate School graduation - we cheered loudly as did most other families. We always cheer at graduations. Ridiculous stuffed shirts don't like it?

I've seen graduation ceremonies go from a religious-like baccalaureate process to one of celebration

DUH! This is not a wake people! It is not a funeral. It IS a celebration.

My daughter was president of her high school student body. I went to her graduation to hear her speech and see her graduate. Her wheelchair confined grandfather went too. It was at the high school football stadium. A group of young black men dressed like pimps came out and stood at the railing blocking everyones view. A guard came along and partly dispersed them but a few kept standing. I said to the one in front of me, "Sir, you need to sit down so we can watch the graduation". He sat down beside me and said you pecker headed m***erf***er. I will kill you. If I wanted you dead you would be dead. He continued to call me MF multiple more times. The guard never came back. My daughter's graduation was ruined. The crowd kept yelling so that even the names of the graduates could not be heard. I am appalled at the lack of dignity and discipline among many in the Black community at these events. No other group behaves this way. A graduation of a child from high school is something to celebrate but it is not a place to display primitive, rude behavior. I see little hope for the average high school graduation ceremony under these circumstances unless fine and jail time are instituted in order to maintain order.

jack-1962499

How appalling for you to have to sit through that rude black man's tirade. You are completely correct in stating no other group (meaning blacks) behave in such a disruptive manner. One other commenter stated the grade point average of the student is in inverse correlation to the amount of noise made by the family. Here in the Midwest, the audience is requested to hold their applause until all graduates exit the stage and then everyone can whoop and hollar and clap. Works fine for us and no one disturbs the peace, no one gets hand cuffed and there is no need for security persons in large numbers. Yes, people want to celebrate but hold the congratulations until after the ceremony is over.

After reading all the proofing mistakes in this article.........It is looking more and more like a conspiracy. I wonder how many of the parents could pass a GED exam.

ked1nc

I have been teaching both high school and college for over 30 years...have come to the conclusion that the noise made by the family is in inverse correlation to the student's grade point average. The lower the average, the louder the family.

I think that is probably a brilliant observation ked1nc.

It's not so much the students acting up but the adults acting like idiots.

Hey burning Brightly, you would be surprised but when I worked as an admission counselor I found that in general GED holders scored higher on the placement test than high school graduates.

This is not about trying to turn a graduation ceremony into some solemn event, it is about the general lack of manners and common decency in people these days. Many graduating classes are quite large and they have a lot of names to get through. They need to read through the names rather quickly so that the ceremony does not drag on for hours. If one graduates family starts making on inordinate amount of noise and "whooping it up" for a period one of two things happens, either the presenter has to stop the ceremony until the noise dies down or other families do not get to hear the names of their loved ones announced at the ceremony. Either of these options is not good because you either end up with the ceremony taking forever or some families being deprived of having the pride in hearing their loved one's name read. This should not happen just because some ignorant jackasses do not know how to behave respectfully in public. Often the families that behave like this end up seriously embarrassing and mortifying the person they are cheering for, the opposite of their supposed intent. I can remember back to my high school graduation. My class was over 900 students. In order to get through it they simply requested that people hold all applause until all the names had been read and the graduates were presented to the attendees by the emcee. The amazing thing is that since this was a relatively nice, middle class district everyone politely honored the request and the ceremony went smoothly. Everyone had a great time and the parents got to "whoop it up" to their hearts content, not that any got carried away, after all the names had been read.

These people that are complaining about the actions taken by the school or the police have no one to blame but themselves. They were requested ahead of time to keep things respectful, and in some cases warned of the consequences of getting out of hand, and chose to ignore those requests. They now have no right to complain when they get hit with the consequences they were promised. Cheering for you graduate is one thing, "whooping it up" for several minutes so that you either hold up the ceremony or deprive others of getting to hear there loved one's name announced is something else entirely and does not need to be tolerated in a polite society.

@ BiG Mannn I do believe you. I do not think many graduates would graduate if they had to take and pass that test. It is easy to get through school but a GED exam insures that you know it and have not just been run through the system.

Have a great weekend.

Look at me

Look at me

I'm screaming my head off and acting boorish.

The day may mark the transition of my kid into adulthood, but I'd rather act like an undisciplined 4 year old.

Besides, my vocabulary is limited so I don't understand why they call it a GRADUATION COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY.

Ceremony ?

Nope...it's just a wild Party Time...and all those old dudes up there keep interrupting with speeches that I don't give a flip about.

My kid finally has an EXCUSE for skipping school, & I'm freaking out!

Someone said that they sent out notices to "be respectful"...whatever that means.

I never paid attention to the other notices, and I sure am not going to start now... because my one parenting skill is yelling like a crazy person.

HAAAAA!! Here in Arizona we'll take whatever is necessary in order to get a kid to graduate, hire a Blimp with their name on it if that's what will keep them in school.

I had to miss my son's graduation from medical school last week (recovering from recent surgery), but I would have gave him a shout out if I was there ;P

RI Mom: You accurately summed up this generation of parents. It is no wonder the children act as they do. You also mentioned that it is a commencement ceremony. Do most of these people at these things understand that "commencement" means to START something, as in "let us commence?" It is not the END of anything! I've been to graduation ceremonies where you would have thought Jesus was up there getting his diploma the way some of these families carry on. Now, I understand that for some it is a much harder climb than for others, but our attitudes should indicate to our children that they are now moving on to something even BETTER. High school graduation is not an end. It is a means to the next great thing in your life. Keep setting other goals.

DebbieK-3805642 and Jack-1962499

DebbieK-3805642 and Jack-1962499

I agree totally agree with you I was at my daughter’sgraduation and this man and his family next to me were screaming and blowinghorns and I thought this was extremely rude but this was not a rude black man's tirade but a rude white man and his family tiarade...I guess rudeness does not come in just one color?

You guys are absolutely right. You've already been sitting there for God knows how long listening to speaches and class songs and then, when it's finally time to hear your child's name, some loud black family drowns out the speaker so they have to stop. Now you have to sit there an extra five minutes waiting for them to shut up and the speaker to continue. Don't these people know that the best way to show your appreciation for your child's accomplishment is to sit there, with your arms crossed, a blank expression on your face, and a subtle head nod. I mean that's universal appreciation right? That makes it the best there is.

"There's a lot of sentiment that goes along with a child graduating from high school and this marks the day when you transition from childhood to adulthood."

Good Grief

It's ironic, isn't it? The day that marks the child's transition into adulthood marks the day when the adult transitions back to a child.

Thank you Dee Dee 5152 for bringing this back to reality. I'm ashamed that DebbieK-3805642 and Jack-1962499 made this about race. A$$holes comes in all shapes, sizes and races. Sadly, common decency has become very uncommon and these morons think that their right to go wild for their graduate trumps another parent's right to hear his own graduate's name when it's his turn.

And to paraphrase what ked1nc stated, I have no doubt that the level of rude behavior, and the duration and loudness of the cheering and fog horns is inversely proportional to the graduate's GPA.

I just attended my son's graduation 2 weeks ago and it was a wonderful event, certainly an emotional one not only for the graduates but also for their families. Sure, there were a few loud shouts, mostly someone standing up and shouting out the name of their beloved graduate and maybe a "woo hoo!". I get it -- this is a big milestone for a family, 18 years in the making. But everyone was respectful enough of each other not to spoil it for anyone else -- certainly no prolonged shouting that would prevent another family from hearing their own child's name called out, and nothing that required the ceremony to be halted.

I guess I'm grateful that there were no wild human animals at my kid's graduation!

azdad48: I did not bring race into this issue. It was thrust upon me by the situation. I went as far as to discuss the situation with friends of mine who are Black and many of them were shocked by such behavior. How is bringing this problem up worse than your comment about "human animals"? It was a fact. It happened the way I described it. Have you ever had your life threatened at a graduation, or repeatedly been called m.....f..ker? Where I live there is only a subset of people who behave this way and it is not an entire race but there is no excuse for rude behavior no matter who you are.

DeeDee: I agree that rudeness does not come in a certain color but in this case the rudeness was carried out by a minority of people of one color. Look at the photograph at the beginning of this article. If I'm being racist this article is racist too.

Jack, you simply described the people who threatened you. There were other posts that blamed all of this on only Black people. I saw it with Black and Whites the last time attended a graduation. You know oddly enough, Mrs Shriner was the only one who got it right. She didn't like what her son did and made him clean up the Gym. All the other parents were shocked and outraged that even after being warned, they caused a scene and then shocked they got in trouble. As for the Mom that said the son didn't do anything wrong and he couldn't control it, well guess what... the MOM could have controlled it and chose not to.

As for Richard, I'm no stuffed shirt, but dignity is still required at certain events. This generation already tosses out manners and good social skills, so maybe, just maybe one day in their lives, they can behave. Like others have said... good GRIEF it is just High School. Sad part is now they have graduation events for almost every grade. I really don't understand this.

Quite a few years ago, my son graduated. I was unable to attend the ceremony because I was 2000 miles away working my a$$ off to get the money necessary to help him with his plans for college (since then, he's worked/ing his a$$ off and will have his doctorate by age 27). I was working 80 hour weeks and had been for the better part of two years.

The only option I had for attending/hearing his graduation ceremony was a cell phone. Needless to say, I didn't hear his name called. Just like the woman in this story, these people thought that they were 'special' and didn't respect the school's request to not scream and yell.

In my opinion, people who do not respect the graduation 'rules' should be escorted from the ceremony (by force if necessary), and given the maximum punishment for disorderly conduct. The woman in this story is nothing short of a disrespectful pos.

Hear, hear Jack. Anyone who is arguing your points simply doesn't get it and exhibits that by calling in the good ol' race card. When in doubt = race card. So here's another alternative to that issue. Have two graduations; one with the students who have achieved GPAs of 3.0 or better and another day for those graduates who have achieved GPAs of 2.99 and lower to just passing. Many schools have so many graduates with large family members that they have to rent stadiums just to fit everyone. If there are two graduations, they can save money on a stadium rental and those parents of higher level achievers can have the dignified ceremony they've earned without being called names. And the families of those students who graduate without any honors or accolades can scream their silly little hearts out. Win, win situation if you ask me.

This is typical of people having lost control and have no clue regarding anything resembling decorum. This is the slumming down of society and with the parents like this, the kids will consider this behaviour normal.

Sues--I disagree. Jack and Debbie brought race into the issue by including the irrelevant description of race in their posts. Why not also say the people were short/tall, had earlobes attached/not attached to their heads, wore glasses, had or did not have hearing aids, or what brand of jeans they wore. All irrelevant. So yes, they did, whether they thought of themselves as doing so, brought the "race card" into the discussion. The next question is, what is THEIR race? The race of the offendee is relevant if the race of the offender is relevant, right?

Also, rather than separate grad ceremonies by GPA, how about by preferred noise level? This would especially handle those schools with humungous classes.

I agree our society has pretty much lost all sense of dignity. Too bad.

@BigMannnn - i completely agree as my son is one of these examples. 150 iq but also bi-polar. struggled in school. horrible grades (didn't turn in homework). horrible times. quit school 3 months before graduation (when he turned 18). 3 years later, takes the GED (and did not study one time), and passed with a score higher than what 94% of high school students would get.

your point is an excellent one.

as far as the mother in this story - i GET that parents get too loud. i get that it ruins the ceremony for other families. i get that to carry on and carry on is disrespectful.

HOWEVER, would it really have been such a big deal to just escort the woman out of the ceremony? there were rules, and she broke them. but ARRESTING her right in the middle of the ceremony??? was this really necessary? i can see ticketing her. or arresting her outside IF she resisted the escort out .. but to just arrest her? i think this was WAY out of line.

I graduated HS in 1972 and there was a little hollering when each and every one of us received our diplomas; from our friends, NOT from parents, who mostly just applauded politely. Now I've been to my 3 children's graduations from a very small, rural NJ HS. The last graduated in 2011. The school is about 90% white and has about 125 students in each class. My experiance is that the low lifes are the loudest by far, screaming and yelling when their kid's name gets called. It has NOTHING to do with race or political preference. Not sure what motivates them, seems to me they're NJ hillbillies trying to embarass their kids, and doing a good job of it.

I shouted and cheered at each of my kids graduations. They had a short walk, and I wanted them to hear my pride as I was seated a half mile away. But at no time would I EVER think of depriving another student's family the same opportunity. Because every student had a short walk. And every family wanted their child to hear their pride while seated a half mile away. At the end of the ceremony, all students and guests went wild and loud.

azdad48: Be ashamed for yourself. I am not apologetic for stating what happened.

SRMcMahon: When a person threatens your life, you remember their most obvious features and the tone of their speech first. I certainly did not pay attention to his earlobes or eye color. Are you saying that it is more important that this was a Black on White threat versus a Black on Black threat? More Black people are killed or injured by other Black people than any other violent crimes between races. The perpetrator of the crime is the one whose features should be remembered. You are the one playing the race card.

Suppose your kid was the next one in line while the 2 minutes of whooping and hollering for the kid in front totally drowned out the names of the next 7 graduates. Or maybe we should just allow a 2-min ovation for each graduate. Let's see.... times 250 graduates ....

It's about EVERYBODY enjoying graduation - not just the loudest. Personal celebrations are still in order for each and every graduate's family - just among those who are proud of the graduate.

It looks like from your spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors that going crazy at a high school graduation would be an accomplishment for you and not an embarrassment to others.

A good ten seconds is enough to clap and cheer who ever you want once their name is called..after that 10 seconds you're only making matters worst for all at a day they will never see again..THINK YOU BUNCH OF IDIOTS!!!

Read galore now about people over doing it..for gods sakes its high school is this a first in your family?

Cooper told msnbc.com she felt humiliated by the arrest.

Looks like somebody understands part of the intent of being arrested.

"I don't understand how he's being punished for something he has no control over. I just thought that was ludicrous," his mother, Traci Cornist, told WCPO-TV in Cincinnati.

That's right However, you were warned of the possible penalty and you could control your raucous behaviour. I'm sure your son enjoys paying the penalty for your big mouth.

Joe, you get a C-. You misspelled freaks.

GreenTimer,

You nailed it! If half of the 250 get two minutes of hollering and noise, 125 X 2 = 250 minutes! More than a four hour delay!

Of course---Dey jus' beez doing their thang, gnome sayin'? You feels me?

spike..stop faking it..its called ..you feel me...not feels me!

Mike,

You are wrong. Watch The First 48 suspect interviews. It is a completely foreign language and construction.

The perfect tense would be, "You beez feels me?"

If you have to carry on and yell and cheer and whatever to the point that the parents of the next kid receiving his diploma cannot even here his/her name announced, I'm sorry, but that's over the top. No one needs to carry on to that extent.

Parents who cheer and carry on to the point that the parents of the next kid cannot hear his/her name announced, they are being rude and selfish in the extreme. While I think arresting them is a bit heavy-handed, I have no problem with such parents being escorted out of the ceremony.

The real problem is that the schools are not uptight enough. If they were more strict and required students to actually master the required materials including deportment we would not have such a crop of unemployable graduates.

You need a bigger perspective. These are not rock concerts. They are sacred ceremonies to commemorate and celebrate rites of passage. They are not popularity contests. Forget high school. I went to a commencement this year for people becoming doctors and one family blew an air horn so loud and so long that I was embarrassed for their stupidity. Graduations are formal, dignified and unfortunately, we Americans have taken most extraordinary occasions and made them as crass as possible.

I also feel sad for the graduates who don't have 30 relatives and friends at the commencement. It makes it seem as if they are not important and their achievements are not important because a rowdy group of people were not screaming for them.

Everyone deserves applause for graduation. I would like to see all the applause held till everyone got a diploma and then have the whole graduating class cheered. Screaming and hollering can be left for beer busts after the graduation. It's not cool. It's childish at an important ceremony.

You ever feel the european cultural sensibilities and decourm and being replaced by animal planet?

Do we all need to participte in their childs moment? keep it to yourselves

That's right However, you were warned of the possible penalty and you could control your raucous behaviour. I'm sure your son enjoys paying the penalty for your big mouth.

I have a problem with punishing the student for the actions of the family. In this country, we don't punish people for the actions of others? It's a bit like saying that the IRS will charge YOU a penalty because a relative cheated on his taxes. Many of the students probably find the actions of their families embarrassing (an air horn, really?), yet they're being punished.

Ever heard of guilt by association, Barry? It puts people in jail all the time. However, I agree that the punishment should be met out to the persons being disruptive primarily.

Ever heard of guilt by association, Barry? It puts people in jail all the time.

Yes, it does, unfortunately. But, it isn't the law or official policy.

How is it not? If a robbery is planned and you knew about it ahead of time and did not report it, the law says you are guilty by association.

Bill LeMond,

You wrote that "these are sacred ceremonies". Not any more. They are little more than photo ops managed by the school administration to try and hide the fact that the school, the parents, the community and the kids failed 15% or more of the time. I'm talking about those who didn't get their names called. But it's alright because we can assembly line march these new full-time McDonalds' cashiers across a stage to shake the hand of the administrator who cut the courses that might have meant college or a better job.

When I graduated from high school, we had the strictly regimented graduation during which we were handed an empty folio. It seems the school was cooperating with the gown rental company, and we got our diploma in a manilla envelope when we returned our gowns during a near riot. 900 graduates served by ONE table with two people, immediately after the evening ceremony.

When I graduated from university with a bachelor's degree, only the PHD's were introduced as they had to be frocked. The rest of us were told to stand up en masse, were told we had graduated, and sat down. Ceremony was at noon, and the diplomas were handed out as we entered. Gown check-in was over the next three days.

Oddly, I can't remember anything actually said by any speaker at either event. But I can remember even the teachers applauding one especial screw-up from the high school graduation. It was either surprise that he actually made it, or joy that they were shut of him.

That's the sanctity of this event. The real rites of passage for our youth is when they take responsibility, and when the community responds by offering them a job, a chance to go on in school, or at least participate in life. But for 5-60% of high school students, commencement won't be part of this. Not much changed from the 1900-1930 period, when many kids were working full-time by the 8th grade. But now, they're just failing. And we, and especially our schools, are letting them.

You nailed it !

suleimom...I totally agree with your comment regarding talking...can I add talking on cell phones too...maybe even going to the extreme of simply turning them off for an hour or so? Or better yet, let's just have a teacher reprimand the loudmouth in front of the whole (graduating) class...just like the good ol' days!

"YOU, OVER THERE IN THE THIRD ROW...SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"

Saw on the TV show 'Animal Planet' animals do use loud sounds for attraction reasons.

Guess these *animals* at a high school graduation are no different!

They simply have no shame. I wonder how they would feel if they were told in a group how ridiculous they sound and how embarrassing they are to their graduate. I wonder if that would skew their stupidity enough to make them stop. They're a whole different breed of parent who most likely never attended a graduation before and simply do not know how to act. There should be a class for them to take for graduation etiquette. I somehow doubt if it would make a difference to those dressed like pimps calling that guy m.....f..... throughout the ceremony. That in of itself is an embarrassment - or should be. Those people are not familiar with social skills or any sort of etiquette. I still say have two graduations. It would make everyone happy - the lowlifes and the highlifes.

When it is the only member of their family to graduate high school, shouldn't they be proud? I interpret the length of carrying on as the more unsuccessful attempts before this lucky person.

Thinker. What an ironic name.

Save the celebration for the after party, or at least to the end of commencement. Where has civility gone? Respect for others?

Thinker. What an ironic name.

Ironic, indeed.

There were nearly 1,000 students in my high school graduating class so they needed to keep things moving and not wait for applause after each student or we would have been stuck there all day.

It was a stunt. His mom was not happy with him.

If he knelt down and prayed, good for him.

Prayer isn't allowed at school activities.

Public Prayer isn't allowed at school activities. He did not ask anyone to join him. Are you going to tell kids at lunch they can't bow their heads before meals or when an athlete scores a touch down and they make the sign of the cross over their chest will you expel them? Get over yourself

Public prayer means PRAYING IN PUBLIC. Fail.

Ummm did you read that it was a CATHOLIC High School that the young man that "Tebowed" graduated from? I don't agree with his stunt, but some folks Don't read and then make assumptions, ie: you can't pray at a public function.

@TiredVoter

You're reasoning with idiots man. They don't want facts they only believe whatever someone tells them to.

You're reasoning with idiots man.

Yeah - like ones that are unable to recognize the difference between "praying" and a "moment of silence".

Yikes Thinker, it is a CATHOLIC School. Sorry but they do Pray at graduation ceremonies. Now how would I know that, because ....... gasp that is what we did at my graduation from 8th grade in a Catholic Elementary School. go figure, no who would of thunk that??????!!!!!!

Huh. I graduated from a public high school in Indiana in 1988. The students with the top four GPAs gave the graduation speech, and the other speeches (I can't remember what the others other than mine were). I gave the benediction... a prayer. And this was in the oasis of libralism in a very republican state. Maybe the rule about prayer in school activities has changed. I don't know. But I do know that there were two prayers at that graduation ceremony because I did one of them, and it felt very strange. I knew a lot of those kids weren't Christian so I worked really hard to make it as inclusive as possible.

That's why I was rather surprised the kid who Tebowed (which I'm really tired of) got in trouble at the Catholic school graduation. Whatever. My parents couldn't hear my name because the official valedictorian's family went completely insane. My mother still grumbles about it.

There's always a difference when you start to Tebow. When it comes to stupid teens chances are its a joke they think is funny, awesome or whatever their thinking. Honestly I won't be able to understand what kids do and have done nor do I want to. When Tim Tebow does it he's making a religious statement that could honestly be said with words only once and we would get the picture. And a moment of silence is going away with all the idiots in the world thinking whatever the hell they think (if they even think.)

Oddly enough, these ceremonies generally start with an invocation and a benediction, both prayers. As does each day of Congress. The 'Tebowing' was considered by the school in the same way the NFL considers it, a distracting display that interrupts the flow of game play. Thus the delay of game penalty. But 'Tebowing' makes great TV, so don't expect Tim to get flagged often. This kid isn't Tim Tebow, graduation wasn't being nationally televised, and he did get flagged.

However, I do find disturbing that our last civics lesson to our "new adults" is to remember that you live in a police state controlled by unelected school administrators.

Key word, ignorant. There's no social agenda for these types, they live by impulse, hence their very own population explosion that relies on govt assistance. For them this is a first, a high school graduate in the family. For them it's like earning a PHD. To know what these people are really like watch Maury Povich one day and see some of these lowlife women ask for a DNA test to help find the father of their children. They're not even embarrassed to go on national tv and tell the whole country they sleep around so much they have no idea who their baby daddy is. There is simply no shame in this country among these disgusting women. And this is not a racial thing either as is proven on the show. None of these women have the decency to not embarrass their kids later on in life by being on this show nor do they have any shame in behaving badly at a graduation. I feel embarrassment for them actually.

Can't throw hats in the air anymore. They have pointy corners and someone could get hurt.

Didn't throw my cap in the air at graduation, and it had nothing to do with pointy corners. It had to do with the fact that the cap was $30, the standard tassel was $10, and the honors society tassel was $15. That's $55 right there and there was no way I was going to risk losing it.

jhil,

Why not say what you mean? It is a shame that the PC enforcers are so intimidating to people. I caught your implication, and it is true.

i think we all know who theyre talking about. same people who just cant keep quiet in the movie theaters. but guess them graduatiing hs is there biggest accomplishment in life, but hell if you just show up your almost guranteed to graduate hs. but they just dont cheer and move on. they drag it out. like when someone dies, theyre running up and down the street jumping and hollering, ooohhh lord dont do this to me. praise jeesus. bottom line is theyre sub human, theyre selfish, you just cant be surprised at the stupid stuff they already do

Why don't you all just say what you really want to say? all of the euphemisms are at bit tiring and kind of silly. but I have some news for you jackboots, black people are NOT the only ones that behave in this manner!! White people, Hispanic people, they do it too and just as loud and sometimes even longer. Just depends on where you are in this country. I go to the movies, guess who has their brand new baby in the theatre? Yep it;s the young (teen-age) white couple and then the baby starts crying and instead of leaving .... they stay and do they shush shush thing, driving everyone else in the theatre crazy!!!

My husband and I just got back from cruise a couple of weeks ago, who's kids were running around in the adults only area? You got it, the white peoples kids!!! So you see for every thing that you will do the "wink wink nudge nudge" it's "those people" I can tell you about things about YOUR people also.

Trifling, stupid, racially motivated statements do NOT help the discourse!!

Yes white people's children can be loud. They are children. Not parents or adult relatives. They werent screaming curse words in your face and threatening to kill you if you asked them to be quiet. Glad you pointed that out. Makes the black community look much better when you say " But they have loud children so we can act any way we want anywhere."

Actually Chris, it was pointing out that children can be loud period and that the adults in their lives can be completely oblivious to the commotion that they make. So thanks for proving my point that the racists on this board are a live and well and LOVE to try to twist things to their own stupid agenda. Had I gone up to those people and reminded them that the area that they were in was an ADULT area ( which would have been perfectly in my right as a passenger enjoying that area) I know that they would have gotten ugly. They were already getting surly because of the looks they were getting from the other PAYING guests and they finally left the area in a huff and muttering about what they would do if they weren't already out to sea. You see I was not going to bring that up, but since you so helpfully went to that place then I thought I'd tell the whole ugly truth about these "entitled passengers".

Best idea I've heard yet! When the graduated gets tired of going to the back of the line, perhaps he/she will ask the relatives to behave with some class and dignity.

As for those who say high school graduation is the most some of these kids will ever achieve, an attitude like that shuts them down before they've even started.

*graduate*

cunical, great idea. No diploma until behavior by all involved is appropriate.

GREAT Idea!

Wordweevil,

Decorum???

The only place I can find decorum is at the Communion Rail. And even it erupted into mass giggling a few weeks ago, when a 5yo girl discretely (but loudly) passed wind.

But we certainly can't find decorum in our politics, our sports, our schools, on our radios, or in our movies. Roman Catholics can't even discuss their internal differences with decorum. I think its all about that 30sec attention span that our society has created through our music, our TV, and our computer games. Decorum left when the typical piece of music was reduced to 150sec of two people yelling at each other.

Whack 'em up side de head wid' a 2 X 4........size matters!

I attended my first "modern era" public high school graduation some years ago and was stunned at the audience behavior, as well as the apparent need for a number of strategically placed men-in-blue in the area. Even the commencement speaker surprised me with her lack of command of the English language, and she's native born. Unfortunately, she's also gone on to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from NE Florida (how anyone could continue to vote for her is beyond me.....but that's another story).

The whooping and hollering was irritating, to say the least. But at least I understand from personal experience what the rest of you are complaining about, and I'm with you. I'll remember this msnbc column, with comments, and will be interested to see what happens when my grandson graduates from HS in two years. I WILL carry a good camera.....but no airhorns.

I guess this is just further evidence of the continual Decline of Western Civilization.......aaaargh!

Quite frankly...if a student can graduate from an inner city school surrounded by gang violence, poverty, murder, and drop outs...I think that is a pretty good reason to celebrate! Don't forget...the school was good enough for you to get what you wanted for your daughter.

I don't think screaming "That's my f&^*ing baby" and "You go b@#$ch" at the top of your lungs is any where close to celebrating their childs graduating. It is barbaric and animalistic!! I would have no problem with clapping and screaming their "babies" name, but it was so far over the top and it was like a feeder. These people were trying to top each other with screaming out disgusting verbage. There were so many young children there that had to hear this garbage. The school was good enough for us, being we are in the district and we have no choice in my state to send our children outside of the district unless we want to pay for private schooling or send them far away (30 miles away for us) to a charter school. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior from any adults in any public venue. Give me a break!!

Who are These people? What are you trying to say?

Please stop insulting animals.

Delgena,

And who taught these words in the first place, slave owners; who used this language to instill the idea that their black slaves were animals, to be used by the owners however they wanted. 150 years later, some slaves are still held by their language and their circumstances. And oddly, you seem to share the same opinion as those slavers.

Let's hope the graduates can move on. But I see little hope.

Exactly, no matter the student I always gave the same amount of applause as I did for my own. Even as a young adult to have no one in attendance and follow student's recieveing cheer's, I could never bare the thought or the sorrow they must feel, to then be meet with only silence. A moment of life that to me is shameful to all in the audience that lack the compassion to honor all the student's equally. Parent's need to grow up and realise just how devistating their action's for their child and lack of action for someone else's can be to a young adult in full view of all the peer's of a community! Shame on the over zealous!

I've been at ceremonies, mostly college-level, where the audience was asked to hold its applause until the end. There are a few who seem to feel that they must clap anyway, but for the most part this allows the awarding of the diplomas to proceed rapidly and with decorum.