At the end of this week, my family and I will celebrate our son’s high school graduation. However, during what should be one of the happiest and most memorable weeks in a parent’s life, I must pause and address some issues that have been on my mind and in my heart.
My husband and I are the parents of two smart, talented, loving and accomplished adult children. No words are powerful enough to show how much we love them and care deeply about their futures. Looking out for them and guiding them on their life’s journeys is something we take incredibly seriously. Four years ago, when our oldest was finishing high school, we were in the middle of COVID-19. The entire fourth quarter of her senior year didn’t happen; there was no prom, no senior recognition, and no graduation. The same was true for our son, an eighth-grader who was also supposed to have several end-of-the-year events that didn’t happen. He was cheated out of playing the leading role in the eighth grade’s religious pageant, didn’t have the long-anticipated graduation awards breakfast and had a graduation ceremony two months after the fact.
Fast-forward to the 2023-2024 school year, where we are once again hopeful in anticipating our eldest’s college graduation and our youngest’s high-school graduation. We were beyond thrilled to see our daughter graduate from college a semester early with all the pomp and circumstance she missed out on in 2020. It was truly a wonderful day to celebrate our girl. Now, we are closing in on our son’s high school graduation. This is a time of excitement, recognition and pride in all his accomplishments. However, the joy of this week has been poisoned by his school’s unjust and misguided actions.
After four years of dedicated hard work and stellar academic accomplishments, he and his classmates who have earned top honors will NOT be allowed to display these honors at the graduation ceremony. The gold honor cords he received at graduation practice came with a note stating that he would have to return them after Senior Awards Night. When he inquired about this with the school administration, he was told that NO ONE is allowed to wear any honors regalia at the graduation ceremony.
No reason was given for this unfair, capricious and arbitrary rule. Is the school ashamed of its top students? Why are these seniors not being recognized for their hard-earned and well-deserved honors? I can only assume that the school where we paid almost $65,000 in tuition over eight years is trying to be “politically correct”? Aren’t we all now supposed to hop on the bandwagon of “being whomever you want to be”? Aren’t kids encouraged to “identify in the way that makes you most comfortable”? Are we “disrespecting students who didn’t earn honors”?
Well, in that case, my son and others in his class IDENTIFY as top HONORS students because THEY EARNED IT!! Furthermore, I think that the top honors students feel DISRESPECTED at NOT BEING RECOGNIZED for all their hard work. The parents of these top students are also being DISRESPECTED. These parents have sacrificed time to study with and encourage their students along this educational journey. Is modern society so INFANTILE that they cannot recognize someone’s WELL-DESERVED accomplishments because they don’t share in that success? It’s time to GROW UP, work HARD and use the GOD-GIVEN talents you have instead of denying others their RECOGNITION!
I grew up hearing, “Be a leader, not a follower,” and “Don’t sell yourself short”. As parents, my husband and I have always strived to make our children see all the potential they possess. We have pushed them when they needed it, and we have been there to catch the fallout of situations that did not go as planned. We are doing the most important job in the world: raising productive, contributing members of society. To the school we chose to educate our children: We have given you respectful, hard-working, conscientious, eager-to-learn students. Give them and us your respect by recognizing, valuing and celebrating their achievements!
Lynne Loves the Past 