The general decline in standards today

[sheeplady]

When my sons graduated high school there was an all night "lock in" at the school. They had a dance, movies, games, entertainment, and the kids were served meals, snacks, and soft drinks. Purely voluntary, and I think the cost was pretty reasonable. We chaperoning parents were impressed by how well behaved and polite the kids were to us and to each other. I suppose that if there were a small group of hell raisers they could have gone elsewhere, but I think the party was a nice opportunity for the kids.

I like that idea. We had one of those after the junior prom. It was pretty nice and low key. I think it cost $10, but I am not sure as my date paid. I believe the prom was $25 apiece.

(Where I went to school we had the Junior Prom and the Senior Ball. The Junior Prom was the big event with the sitdown meal in a fancy place. The senior ball was in the high school gym and poorly attended.)

And yes, we fundraised for our prom including hiring the chaperones (teachers) for the evening. I believe the after-prom was hosted in part by the alumni association to cut down on drinking.

I'd donate to the local rural school where we are moving for an after prom or after graduation party to help keep kids safe. I see nothing wrong with an after-party. I kind of love the idea of a senior class lock in like you describe.

 

[Feraud]

Oh I knew of people having graduation parties, just never a kid "demanding" a huge blowout with bands and a full bar and such. Most of my relatives and neighbor kids have had a little something, but it certainly wasn't anything extravagant. I'm sure there are those who have them, but it's certainly not the expected norm for kids *I* know.

Kids can demand all they want. I expect it from quite a few young people who, generally speaking, aren't taught the value of a buck. It's the job of the adults to tell them no. Case closed, enjoy graduation, and welcome to the real world.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Kids can demand all they want. I expect it from quite a few young people who, generally speaking, aren't taught the value of a buck. It's the job of the adults to tell them no. Case closed, enjoy graduation, and welcome to the real world.

You must be related to us some way, that "it's the job of the adults to tell them no" major clue! lol!

 

[jamespowers]

You must be related to us some way, that "it's the job of the adults to tell them no" major clue! lol!

To tell them NO! and Mean it.

 

[Stearmen]

One part of the general decline that I see a lot is, people finding some stupid isolated activities, and projecting them onto every person from that generation!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Here in Southern California the graduation tradition was Grad Night at Disneyland, however, I didn't go. My graduation celebration was a nice lunch with my parents at an Italian restaurant after the graduation ceremony.

 

[stevew443]

I went to a graduation party at a friend's house. There were six of us there, the little clique who had associated since freshman year, and we sat up all night playing Risk. No band, no dancing, no booze, no sex, no problems -- and absolutely no cost whatever.

We were the outcast kids, however. I have no idea what the rest of the class did, but I heard about some of them getting arrested at a local beach for public intoxication. Idiots.

Our graduation "party" did include a bit of booze, but it was booze we made in chemistry class during our senior year. Our chemistry teacher had been a boot legger and he was just teaching us the traditional ways, all in the name of science. We came into class one day and each lab desk had a distillation device set up. He provided us with some mash and even taught us how to make more mash should we desire. Our little party for graduation was a camping trip and each of us had enough moonshine for about one drink each. Nobody got drunk, but we sure had fun pretending we were doing something wrong. Come to think of it, that was the most "trouble" we ever caused during our youth.

 

[sheeplady]

Here in Southern California the graduation tradition was Grad Night at Disneyland, however, I didn't go. My graduation celebration was a nice lunch with my parents at an Italian restaurant after the graduation ceremony.

That's not a bad deal if it was a good meal! And if your parents paid the check!

Although.... grad night at Disneyland sounds like a great party!

I treated my parents to breakfast the day I graduated from high school. I left right from the ceremony to go to school; I had spent the day before packing my car. I had promised my mother I would live with them and work on my parents' farm until they day I graduated high school. I kept that promise.

 

[fgradowski]

My class, class of 2012, had a bonfire party at someone's barn in the country. I did not go, but I am positive that there was heavy drinking involved. My uncle graduated the year before me and they also had a party, but their's involved destroying someone's lake house in Michigan with a crazy party. People from my small town really like to party. It never really caught on with me.

 

[Zombie_61]

My class, class of 2012...

Jeez, I have tee shirts that are older than you. lol

I avoided the whole Graduation Party debacle by not graduating. By choice...sort of. Late in my junior year of high school my counselor gave me some bad advice regarding my senior year class schedule, and I followed it. After the first quarter of my senior year he called me into his office to explain the error of my ways (and denied having given me the aforementioned bad advice in the process) and to inform me that, even if I corrected my class schedule and maintained my 4.0 grade point average, I'd be 26 credits short and couldn't graduate with my class. So I left his office with him shouting something about a summer school schedule at my back, and got a job. I did take the General Education Development test about four years later and passed without difficulty, and I can say not having a high school diploma, or having a G.E.D. credential document instead of a diploma, has never prevented me from getting a job. Of course, these days you need a diploma, a college degree, a box full of "There Are No Losers" ribbons, and a recommendation letter from the President of the United States to get a job washing dishes in a greasy spoon just off the highway, so I wouldn't recommend dropping out as a proper course of action for the current generation.

 

[Matt Crunk]

The Graduation tradition in my neck of the woods usually consisted of a short trip down to the Florida Panhandle - Panama City Beach, or some other party spot along the "Redneck Riviera".

 

[Matt Crunk]

I avoided the whole Graduation Party debacle by not graduating. By choice...sort of. Late in my junior year of high school my counselor gave me some bad advice regarding my senior year class schedule, and I followed it. After the first quarter of my senior year he called me into his office to explain the error of my ways (and denied having given me the aforementioned bad advice in the process) and to inform me that, even if I corrected my class schedule and maintained my 4.0 grade point average, I'd be 26 credits short and couldn't graduate with my class. So I left his office with him shouting something about a summer school schedule at my back, and got a job. I did take the General Education Development test about four years later and passed without difficulty . . .

I was in the exact same boat. After going to school for 12 years and making excellent grades, I came up one math credit short (I'd never taken a math class past the 9th grade) in order to graduate with my class. I could have gone to summer school or back the following fall for one semester, but instead I immediately got my GED and went straight into college.

 

[dh66]

The Graduation tradition in my neck of the woods usually consisted of a short trip down to the Florida Panhandle - Panama City Beach, or some other party spot along the "Redneck Riviera".

Same here. Never knew of anyone having any kind of party, unless it was strictly a small get together with family. Everyone went to P.C.
It's been 30 years since I graduated but I'd bet anything that the kids from my hometown are still doing pretty much the same thing.

 

[LuvMyMan]

My class, class of 2012, had a bonfire party at someone's barn in the country. I did not go, but I am positive that there was heavy drinking involved. My uncle graduated the year before me and they also had a party, but their's involved destroying someone's lake house in Michigan with a crazy party. People from my small town really like to party. It never really caught on with me.

Well...now that you are past High School, what direction in life are you heading? College or work?

 

[LuvMyMan]

Here in Southern California the graduation tradition was Grad Night at Disneyland, however, I didn't go. My graduation celebration was a nice lunch with my parents at an Italian restaurant after the graduation ceremony.

My Husband, was a Southern Cal Boy, having lived there in his school age days, says the Disney Grad night was fun. But he grew up for some many years living not too far from Disney Land and was telling me back in the day, for many years anyone under the age of 12 could enter Disney Land for free and then they upped it to a few dollars. His siblings had a shoe box full of unused tickets, (they had the old ticket books back then).....and after school they would go there all the time.

I did not really do much myself for a graduation party, my Father was not going to spring for anything fancy.

 

[Feraud]

To tell them NO! and Mean it.

There is only one definition of no in my book.

 

[fgradowski]

Well...now that you are past High School, what direction in life are you heading? College or work?

I'm a junior at Indiana University now. My current plan is to graduate with my degree in human biology and then take an accelerated nursing program (hopefully at Valparaiso University so that I can be with the man that will be my husband by then), and finally become a certified lactation consultant.

 

[Edward]

I don't think we have any equivalent of high school graduation over here... There are recognised exams which lead to qualifications necessary to proceed to the next level (most importantly A-levels, sat at 17/18, which are the standard route on to tertiary education), but no direct equivalent of the high school diploma. I've neverf known anyone to have an A-level party; mind you, I don't recall anyone in my day having an actual party to celebrate graduation from university. Meal out with parents was the height of it. Suited me... I'd have found a party excruciating.

There is only one definition of no in my book.

I grew up in Northenr Ireland at the height of "the troubles". "No" is quite a familiar word by this point, though itg perhaps has certain resonances unique to that part of the world.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Jeez, I have tee shirts that are older than you. lol

I avoided the whole Graduation Party debacle by not graduating. By choice...sort of. Late in my junior year of high school my counselor gave me some bad advice regarding my senior year class schedule, and I followed it. After the first quarter of my senior year he called me into his office to explain the error of my ways (and denied having given me the aforementioned bad advice in the process) and to inform me that, even if I corrected my class schedule and maintained my 4.0 grade point average, I'd be 26 credits short and couldn't graduate with my class. So I left his office with him shouting something about a summer school schedule at my back, and got a job. I did take the General Education Development test about four years later and passed without difficulty, and I can say not having a high school diploma, or having a G.E.D. credential document instead of a diploma, has never prevented me from getting a job. Of course, these days you need a diploma, a college degree, a box full of "There Are No Losers" ribbons, and a recommendation letter from the President of the United States to get a job washing dishes in a greasy spoon just off the highway, so I wouldn't recommend dropping out as a proper course of action for the current generation.

I moved to another state in my junior year. I was an honor roll student and had already been accepted into college when the counselor called me into her office right before Christmas break my senior year and said I was doing really well except for one thing...I wasn't going to graduate because I didn't take a state-mandated health class required for all incoming freshman. I explained that I lived in another state at the time which didn't require such nonsense, and she said "I understand...do you understand you're not going to graduate without it?" So I had to change up my schedule in the last semester of my senior year to take this stupid class, which was essentially "Venereal Disease and You".

On a side note, your credit system must have been a lot different than ours. In ours, 26 credits was more than two full years.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Same here. Never knew of anyone having any kind of party, unless it was strictly a small get together with family. Everyone went to P.C.
It's been 30 years since I graduated but I'd bet anything that the kids from my hometown are still doing pretty much the same thing.

Except PCB ain't like it was 30 years ago. It's a nightmare of steroids and vomit.