Warren HS Senior's 'Wave' Gets Her Kicked Out Of Graduation Ceremony

Warren HS Senior's 'Wave' Gets Her Kicked Out Of Graduation Ceremony

A Warren High School senior was not allowed to walk across the stage to receive her high school diploma recently because she violated Northside Independent School District policy when she waved and pumped her fists in the air at the crowd.

"I was just walking and I looked up and I (waved)," she said. "And I just felt a tap on my shoulder."

The tap was Medina's cue to leave Saturday's ceremony at the Alamodome.

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According to Northside ISD policy, students must keep their hands by their side at all times and not bring them above waist level until they receive their diploma.

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What an amazingly stupid, stupid, stupid, thing for the school to have done.

Here is their official response:

"She was twirling in the line," said Northside ISD spokesman Pascual Gonzalez. "She was waving. She was not acting like she was instructed to." Gonzalez said that Samantha will eventually receive her diploma.

What idiocy!!!

See, also: Class VP arrested after coming late to graduation

I actually side with the school with this.

At least at my school, we all had to sign a thing saying that we would follow the rules or risk not walking. I assume she probably had to do something like that.

If her mom had a problem with the rule, she should have brought it up before breaking it.

All of the seniors at my school have been told that our principal is proud that our graduation hasnt been turned into a joke (other schools toss beach balls during the ceremony) and we know if we are not formal that we will get pulled.

I bet she was excited but thats what throwing the hats at the end is for

It's a GRADUATION CEREMONY, not a freakin' funeral! I could understand prescribing against disruptive behavior, but waving is FAR from that!

Completing one's education is a cause for celebration!

Given the choice between beach balls and mindless automatons crossing the stage, I'll take the beach balls every time. If there is anything that made that graduation ceremony into a joke, it was the view that our children should be required to function like a "chain-gang" on the side of the highway.

Absolutely amazing

Take her outta line and send her to Gitmo for daring to show emotion. Can't have these kids being pleased with themselves, drones are not supposed to act that way

Originally posted by pineappleupsidedown

I bet she was excited but thats what throwing the hats at the end is for

At my HS graduation we were not even handed our diploma on stage. We were handed the empty folder the diploma went into and got the real one after the ceremony was over. This allowed them to hold it ransom against our good behavior which included our promise not to throw our hats at the end. I'm not kidding.

Vas.

The following lyrics come to mind:

Good morning, Worm your honor.
The crown will plainly show
The prisoner who now stands before you
Was caught red-handed showing feelings
Showing feelings of an almost human nature;
This will not do.
Call the schoolmaster!

"The Trial" - (Roger Waters and Bob Ezrin) - Pink Floyd's "The Wall" album

The rest of the lyrics to "The Trial" can be found here.

[edit on 7-6-2006 by sanctum]

'tis a shame to hold a young person up to such high standards during graduation......almost as though the expectation is for graduating seniors to behave as young adults.......what a ridiculous concept, i agree c'mon, given the opportunity, some of these kids would be smokin' weed, doing cartwheels, setting off works bombs, fartin', throwing stuff into the audience, blaring rap music, firin' bottle rockets, ad infinitum........

It's all about control. It's the school's last chance to exert control over these particular students and Lord knows they probably feel so impotent, they've just got to exercise some of their power.

If I were a student, I'd be organizing a coup. Where we all pump the air and all get 'punished' by not being allowed to walk across the stage. One by one, the students are turned away after waving to their parents! Fun graduation with no graduates, huh?

Let's all be good little automatons...

Thanks for finding these stories, Loam. They really highlight the trend in schools these days to attempt to pump out worker bees.

Come on now, folks. One night out of the rest of their lives? She waved, maybe even pumped her fists, and for that she gets removed from the culminating event of her childhood? Oooooh, terrorist in the making here, obviously.

A little honest emotion. The school needs a reality check.

For waving? Pumping fists? Must have been mightly glad to be done with that hell-hole.

In my graduation there were rumors of all sorts of shennanigans so we were told to be good or we would not graduate. We found that the folders we were handed were empty and we had to pick up out actual diplomas after the shindig.

So...we each placed a marble in the Vice Principals hand as we shook it. All 260-some of us. The look on his face as he ran out of room in his pockets was priceless. Luckily, my school could take a joke and we all graduated along with a little legacy....lots and lots of em.

At my high school graduation back in 1981, this kind of thing was a non-issue. Why? Because back then kids were respectful and fairly well-behaved at graduation (it was at the parties afterward that things got crazy). If anything the class clown probably got a big cheer when he was handed his diploma, but that's about it. No fist waving, no antics really, no nothing. I suppose things have gotten out of hand at these kind of events over the last couple years and they figured "the kids are out of control, we need to crack down". Laws and rules only come about when they are needed because priviledges get abused.

I guess what doesn't make sense is your diploma is the very last thing you do at school and after that you're free to leave.....so why reprimand someone who is "ready to walk out the door"? It's kinda stupid and almost seems like a senseless punishment.

Who knows? Maybe she pumped her fists at the faculty, like, "Hey, up yours." Which would be disrespectful and in that case she deserved the "slap in the face". I'm thinking something has been left out of this story.

I can't believe some of you people had to sign statements saying you would behave at graduation. In 12th grade most people are well-behaved, at least they were back in 1981.....wow, times sure have changed. It seems to take kids alot longer to grow up and mature nowadays.