When did High School Graduations become such a big deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My only child is graduating this year. It’s been soooo much to keep up with in terms of senior celebration stuff. Multiple awards ceremonies, multiple picture submissions (baby/current), senior yearbook ads, senior letters, senior pics, senior walks, walks at the middle and elementary schools, senior week, senior shirts, senior yard signs and nhood signs. Grad announcements, invites and thank you notes. Parties. $$$$ Plus the baccalaureate (what’s the point??) and graduation ceremony itself.

Even my kid is over it at this point and is just ready to be done and move on to the next phase of life (college!). Mentally we are over the senior stuff.

Do other countries make a big deal out of high school graduations like this, or is this another overdone US tradition (and money grab)?

The bolded things are the only things I ever heard of happening. Senior pics at beginning of the school year in fall, Senior letters in late spring.
Parties all year, same as most HS years.

All that other stuff is just silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My only child is graduating this year. It’s been soooo much to keep up with in terms of senior celebration stuff. Multiple awards ceremonies, multiple picture submissions (baby/current), senior yearbook ads, senior letters, senior pics, senior walks, walks at the middle and elementary schools, senior week, senior shirts, senior yard signs and nhood signs. Grad announcements, invites and thank you notes. Parties. $$$$ Plus the baccalaureate (what’s the point??) and graduation ceremony itself.

Even my kid is over it at this point and is just ready to be done and move on to the next phase of life (college!). Mentally we are over the senior stuff.

Do other countries make a big deal out of high school graduations like this, or is this another overdone US tradition (and money grab)?

Attention craving parents thirsty for social media content. I think some parents legit obsess over the next "event" they can post on social media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think rural communities where HS graduation may be a real accomplishment, maybe the first in their family, make a big deal about it. Gifts, parties, etc.
I see it as more of just an expectation, not an accomplishment.

The focal point of the UMC doing this isn't the high school diploma, that's obviously expected, the point is to brag about all of their travel sports crap, all of their fake awards, how attractive and fit the kid is, and where the kid is going to college (selective and/or expensive and/or (typically D3) "recruited athlete" ). It's like a tacky backyard debutante.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think rural communities where HS graduation may be a real accomplishment, maybe the first in their family, make a big deal about it. Gifts, parties, etc.
I see it as more of just an expectation, not an accomplishment.

Inner cities and larger suburbs have lower graduation rates than any rural areas.

Only around 15% of HS students in the Chicago public school systems students can read.

[Anonymous]

I graduated in the early 2000sband we did all those things. For kids that don't go to college the high school graduation is a huge deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s social media. Everything is a big deal now.

Here's my question: are graduates expected to take a gift to each party they attend? My DD is invited to 22 different grad party/open house type events in the days leading up to graduation and on graduation day. Does she need a gift for each one? Or is it a "your presence is a present enough" type situation?

I had the same question last year. What we wound up doing was differentiating between parties where just my daughter was invited, and parties where parents were also on the invitation. For parties where it was just her, she didn't bring a gift, just a card. (It would just be the same group, passing around the same gift card, etc.) But for parties where we were invited, we as adults/the family gave the graduate a little something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For most students, this is their one and only graduation. That’s why it’s a big deal.

Agree. Even for college bound students. Many don’t even walk at college gradation or do anything special at all. They take their degree and head to their new job

[Anonymous]

When HS graduations were moved offsite to places like Constitution Hall, Patriot Center (GMU), Jiffy Lube…

[Anonymous]

For sure that’s an USA thing. In Europe or South America people don’t go crazy for a high school graduation. Think they go big for college graduation.

[Anonymous]

they shut down this small city because of a high school graduation..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For most students, this is their one and only graduation. That’s why it’s a big deal.

For most?? No it’s not! lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My only child is graduating this year. It’s been soooo much to keep up with in terms of senior celebration stuff. Multiple awards ceremonies, multiple picture submissions (baby/current), senior yearbook ads, senior letters, senior pics, senior walks, walks at the middle and elementary schools, senior week, senior shirts, senior yard signs and nhood signs. Grad announcements, invites and thank you notes. Parties. $$$$ Plus the baccalaureate (what’s the point??) and graduation ceremony itself.

Even my kid is over it at this point and is just ready to be done and move on to the next phase of life (college!). Mentally we are over the senior stuff.

Do other countries make a big deal out of high school graduations like this, or is this another overdone US tradition (and money grab)?

The bolded things are the only things I ever heard of happening. Senior pics at beginning of the school year in fall, Senior letters in late spring.
Parties all year, same as most HS years.

All that other stuff is just silly.

What are senior letters?

[Anonymous]

The problem isn’t that they are a big deal. The problem is the careless consumption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think rural communities where HS graduation may be a real accomplishment, maybe the first in their family, make a big deal about it. Gifts, parties, etc.
I see it as more of just an expectation, not an accomplishment.

Inner cities and larger suburbs have lower graduation rates than any rural areas.

Only around 15% of HS students in the Chicago public school systems students can read.

It's a poor district, but you are incorrect. It's also outpacing other districts in improvement post-COVID. And suburban Chicago schools are generally fantastic.

https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2024/06/13/initial-state-test-scores-reading-math-pandemic/


High School graduation has always been a big deal. The wedding level stuff seems to have arisen with social media

[Anonymous]

I give your kid $50. They give it back to my kid the next weekend. The graduations "presents" go round and round