The Rant: Sir John Franklin Grad

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and with Sir John Franklin’s Graduation ceremony just around the corner (Saturday), I thought it was probably time that I got some things off my chest.

First off, congratulations to the 140+ students graduating this year.  You’ve all put in a ton of work, and deserve all the best from this town over the weekend.  Enjoy every minute of it. 

However (in my opinion), politics and overprotection are starting to ruin what is, for many students, the biggest event in their lives thus far (and, for many, one of the biggest in their lives, period).

Now, before I get into this, please let it be known that this is all my opinion, and no-one else’s.  Feel free to agree or disagree (that’s what the comments function is for), and I certainly don’t propose that I have all the answers, or that those who disagree with me are wrong in any way. 

This is just how I see things.  And how I see things are that a lot of changes have been made to Sir John Franklin High School’s graduation ceremony for the wrong reasons in the last few years.

First, some background.  I graduated in 2007 from Sir John Franklin High School as the student council president, and had a large hand in planning many of the “extracurricular” grad activities that took place during the week of the grad ceremony.  Needless to say, graduation from Sir John Franklin is something I’ll never forget, and has a very special place in my heart (and always will). 

However, now, with my brother and two of my cousins graduating this year, I’ve been privy to a bit more of the planning and discussion than I had been since my own graduation – to that end, I don’t know if some of these changes occurred in 2008 or 2009, or if they all took effect this year.  I just noticed them this year.

First, and foremost, is the moving of the graduation ceremony from its traditional place in mid-May to the end of June.  This change was presumably made in order to ensure that the “grad list,” or those permitted by the school to participate in the ceremony based on whether or not they’ve met (or are on track to meet) graduation requirements is as accurate as possible, that is, those participating in the ceremony are the ones who will actually be graduating.  The change (I would assume) has also been made to help assure that the partying leading up to and the night of the grad ceremony is kept to a minimum, as there is still a diploma exam which takes place on the Monday following grad weekend.

I find both of these arguments very shallow and insignificant: basically, too much time is being spent on the wrong things.  First, the “accurate grad list” argument: a graduation ceremony is about the students.  That’s it.  Not the school’s reputation or anything like that.  By moving the grad ceremony later in the year, you exclude those who were on track to graduate and messed up in the last month: either by failing/dropping a class, not getting their community service hours finished, or for whatever other reason. 

But let’s rewind for a second – don’t you think that having the grad ceremony in May might have prevented some of these mistakes?

For a lot of students in the Northwest Territories, a high school education is as far as they get.  That’s a fact.  We have a low percentage of students attending post-secondary education than in many other regions of Canada, and so, for this sizable group of students, a high school grad ceremony is the only academic ceremony they will ever experience in their life.  These students (the ones unlikely to further their education) are also the most likely ones to slip up at some point in the last month of school and be taken off the grad list – their marks are likely not as high as students eying college or university. 

Seeing as a high school graduation ceremony may be the pinnacle of some students’ academic careers, giving them a graduation ceremony before they enter the “home stretch” could very well inspire them to finish strong and complete their diplomas.  It is hard to quantify how important it is to some people to go through all of the excitement that grad brings with those in their year, even if they will not graduate with them on time, and having an earlier ceremony is a simple way to do that.  Even if they don’t graduate in the end, who cares?  Again, it’s about the students, not the school’s reputation, and to be honest, I don’t think there are too many prudes out there who care if a few students who don’t graduate get to participate in a ceremony.  It’s not hurting anyone.

Taking this important incentive away from those students who are “on the bubble” to graduate will most likely lower their chances of completing their education, in my opinion.  It will also ensure that some students never get to participate in a ceremony, or are forced to take part in one with the year after theirs.  Every student who has made it to grade 12 deserves recognition, even if they don’t end up graduating, and to take the ceremony away from some of them by putting it at the end of June is wrong.

The second argument for the moving of the date is the “party” argument, that is, that students are less likely to party if grad takes place during exams.  While I do think that this is true for most: a lot of students have a lot riding on these exams, it is not for all, and it is here that this argument is counterproductive.  Assuming that no partying will go on during grad week is ludicrous, ignorant, and naive, regardless of the week.  The effects of this partying are tenfold when they occur during the exam period, where many students are doing their best to actually graduate, rather than during a nondescript week in mid-May.  By moving grad week to the end of June, you are effectively lowering the grades of many students, something that could easily be avoided.  Why make them worry about exams and grad?  Do one, than the other.  Simple.

The second point I would like to make is this: partying is a huge part of grad.  It always has, and it always will be.  Having the entire class come together for a week is one of the things that make graduation so special and memorable for many students.  Sure, there will be problems; it’s a bunch of underage teens drinking (at least some of them are), but more the most part (at least in my experience) the students are civil and sane.  Those who do stupid things during grad week would likely be doing them anyway.

I’m not saying the school should encourage underage partying, far from it.  The students have a choice whether or not to consume alcohol, or to attend grad week events at all, and a high school certainly has no place encouraging or promoting events like this.  However, by actively taking steps to discourage them, they are inadvertently making them potentially more dangerous and damaging – imagine the hit the school’s reputation would take if one of their students was caught doing something inappropriate during exam week.  Or, the much more likely scenario: that students will have far lower grades than usual on final exams because they happened to coincide with grad week.  Either of these scenarios is not an ideal one, and are easily prevented: if you know it’s going to happen, why not make it happen when it’s not as big a deal?

The same argument here extends to all those who are adamant defenders of dry grad and use this as another reason behind the ceremony’s movement to late June: dry grad sponsors don’t want to see students drinking during the week and then put money into a “dry grad” event.  Again, it doesn’t matter what the sponsors think: whether they want to or not, some students will drink during grad week.  That’s just what happens.  By making these switches, the school is believing that it has control over something it doesn’t, and needs to come to grip with this, and proceed in making the effects of this as minimal as possible (read: NOT DURING EXAM WEEK).

Another element I found strange regarding grad this year was the omission of the “walk,” that is, when all the students come into the gym one by one, or in pairs, in their formal wear and walk up on stage.  I would assume that this was removed for the same reasons there was talk of removing it when I was in grade 12: that some students are embarrassed that they can’t find a grad date, or shy, and do not wish to participate. 

Unfortunately for those students, though, such is life.  There are many things during grad week that some people would rather not participate in. 

The solution?

They don’t participate.

Removing the walk because some students don’t wish to do it is like removing grad pumpkin carving because a few students are allergic to pumpkins, or not letting the students use the pool at dry grad because someone is embarrassed to be seen in a bathing suit.  There are choices for a reason, and in this case, the school erred on the side of overprotection (something that is very prevalent in our society these days, but that’s a rant for another time).

The truth of the matter is that there are a sizeable amount of students who, given the choice, would do the “walk.”  Why take that choice away from them?  Using a more direct example, the school never before forced students who didn’t want to participate in the “walk” to participate, and the same logic holds true here.  If it’s not that important to you/you don’t want to do it for whatever reason, then don’t.  Simple.

As a high school student, I loved grad.  The week leading up to the event, and the event itself, were major points in my life, and getting the chance to come together with the hundred-odd people in my grad class was an experience that was once-in-a-lifetime.  I’ve spoken with many other members of my class who feel the same way.  I just hope that the school (or the school board, or whoever makes these decisions) can remember that that once-in-a-lifetime feeling is what the event is all about. 

It’s about the students.  And that’s it.

Once again, congrats to the Sir John Franklin (and for that matter, the St. Pat’s) graduates.  Enjoy every minute of it.

*Disclaimer: I apologize if I’ve screwed up any of the “facts” I have here.  I don’t know all of the reasons behind the changes made to grad, nor do I pretend to: this is largely based on speculation.  Please treat it as such.

As well, I apologize if I sound redundant/dumb making points, it is a rant, after all.  If you have a comment, please post it below!