Comments on: Kindergarten Proms and Grade School Graduations: Taking It Too Far?

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 01:25:46 +0000

Don’t all schools have grauduations? You have graduations fori:

Kindergarten to first grade.
Fifth grade to sixth grade.
Ninth to tenth grade.
High school.
College.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:41:42 +0000

a) I absolutely love The Incredibles
b) I quoted that EXACT line to express my irritatation at having to attend my sister’s “graduation” from the 8th grade. No one graduates from the 8th grade, you move on to high school. Its not worth a celebration or a ceremony. The same with moving on from preschool, kindergarten and the sixth grade. It is truly psychotic.

By: E.M. Monroe

E.M. Monroe — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 03:30:48 +0000

This was a great post. “The Incredibles” reference quite pertinent. The problem with “graduation” prior to high school might just be that it sends the message about “finishing,” as some commenters have suggested. A good education does not end. While the end of high schooling should be marked, it’s how you mark it that matters. We plan to mark it as a transitional moment but not as an end point; especially in a withered and withering economy.

By: overseas_honeybee

overseas_honeybee — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 20:48:45 +0000

Yeah the Soulja Boy was a complete FAIL but other than that I say let the cuteness continue. See no problem with holding graduations etc. At least they didn’t have to sing “We are the World” like we had to during ours. #80sBabies

By: Candy 1

Candy 1 — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 20:07:01 +0000

Preschool/Kindergarten graduations are nothing new. They’re actually kind of old-school. My older sister had one (the whole sha-bang with professional photos, cap and gowns) and she “graduated” from preschool in 1978…

My kindergarten son had a “Moving Up” ceremony yesterday. It was nice and only lasted 45 minutes for two kindergarten classes. They had their names called along with the award they were going to receive (citizenship, perfect attendance, science, reading, etc.), sang two songs, and the *involved* parents and volunteers were given a certificate of appreciation, and then we had cupcakes afterward. The principal made it clear that it was not meant to be a graduation, though. I have no problem at all with that type of celebration because going to the first grade is the beginning of a years-long journey of *formal* schooling, and similar to the first day of school, it is important.

I think having a “graduation”at the end of every single school year is too much, but a simple awards ceremony for honor roll and citizenship is good enough.

The prom for kindergarteners is over the top.

By: Devra

Devra — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 17:37:12 +0000

Funny, we used to call them parties.

By: African Mami

African Mami — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 15:19:06 +0000

@ rhea,

This long ting you”ve written….awards ceremony-we had those EVERY year, as well as GRADUATION-EVERY year.

99% of my peeps have GRADUATE degrees-your point?!

By: rhea

rhea — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:37:12 +0000

People keep talking about celebrating achievements and making education important to the child, but there are other ways of doing that without dumping them in thee grown-a** situations that they haven’t earned. When I was growing up, we had awards ceremonies. Students got certificates, ribbons, and statues for the things that students today are getting graduation ceremonies for! We never felt deprived. We were proud to get three or four awards for one ceremony; we didn’t need a graduation! We had skate parties in elementary school. We didn’t need the prom! These little kids don’t even recognize the significance in what they are doing. They just do it, going through the motions. These parents need to admit that these mock milestones are really for their benefit, not their kids’. The parents want to see their kids dressed up. The kids don’t really know what’s going on.

Graduation and prom are things that you earn. If you have been going to prom since kindergarten, what is the point of going when you’re 17? Where is the motivation to get to high school graduation if you’re graduating from things every year? These things take the significance out of the real deal milestones, and yes, the milestone itself becomes mediocre. I am a teacher, and I keep seeing us move further and further away from the things that our parents thought was common sense, then get upset at the result! There are many different ways to give your kids social experiences and pride in their education while still instilling in them the value in EARNING WHAT YOU GET. No high school, no prom. No diploma, no graduation.

By: rhea

rhea — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:34:23 +0000

There is a line where it all becomes too much. People keep talking about celebrating achievements and making education important to the child, but there are other ways of doing that without dumping them in thee grown-a** situations that they haven’t earned. When I was growing up, we had awards ceremonies. Students got certificates, ribbons, and statues for the things that students today are getting graduation ceremonies for! We never felt deprived. We were proud to get three or four awards for one ceremony; we didn’t need a graduation! We had skate parties in elementary school. We didn’t need the prom! These little kids don’t even recognize the significance in what they are doing. They just do it, going through the motions. These parents need to admit that these mock milestones are really for their benefit, not their kids’. The parents want to see their kids dressed up. The kids don’t really know what’s going on.

By: Val

Val — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 12:51:49 +0000

The way this country and its Media is always telling Black kids that they are going to fail and be dropouts I really don’t see anything wrong with this. The prom might be a bit much but the graduation isn’t.

By: African Mami

African Mami — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 05:17:29 +0000

Now THIS is what is the problem, not the graduation! Kudos on pointing out the wrong.

By: African Mami

African Mami — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 05:16:41 +0000

@Rochelle

Celebrating my daughter’s graduation from nursery school is NOT synonymous with bad grades. The more you people go innnnnnnnn on this issue the more you give me power to celebrate and pop shampayne because of nursery school graduation.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 04:02:27 +0000

Education should be celebrated at every level…….NO it should not. Special achievements should be celebrated. Your type of thinking leads to entitlement issues.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 03:57:40 +0000

See now this comment above me is from a pure fool. So a five year old sees the end of the school year “taking forever”. If that is the case, you failed as a parent. NO CHILD, and i mean no child should dislike school so early. If they do that is nothing but the parents’s fault for instillin backward ar.se notions about school and education. “A child can’t wait for the prom to celebrate” Again backward ar.se thinking. how would a 5 year old know what a prom is unless someone tells them? I mean really…. A child can’t wait to bring home straight A’s is what you should be saying, but I guess bad weaves, fluffy dressses, balloons and parties is all you care about for your child. Moron.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 03:51:01 +0000

Oh and another thing. Why are the little girls in the video wearing weaves and why are they listening to soilder boy. There were no disney songs to throw on. Come on blk people. WAKE UP!

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 03:47:06 +0000

I once heard B. Obama say that he sees parents bringing their children flowers and balloons when they graduate from middle school.He said that doing all that throwing big parties, taking professional photos etc, is really a celebration of being average. He said “just slap the kid on the back and tell them to get going, no need for the fuss.” After he said that, i knew that I would vote for him. It is really true in the black community. We really expect very little of our children and then wonder why they feel it is ok too get preggo as a teen, bring home C’s on their report card, and drop out of college without a plan. I mean really. No child needs to be congratulated for being basic. That is why the other cultures are whopping our ar.se in education. We put our priorities in the wrong things. Children should only get things when they DESERVE IT! That is it. No exception. Right now I am in grad school for education admin. In class a few of the professors said that future admins should take steps to eliminate the prom, not for entitlement reasons, but because parents make too big of a deal out of it. Can you believe that! the stupid parents. What i could never understand is how parents reward their children for being failures. i once had a friend that said he barely passed high school. All through all he did was BS. yet he still got CHIRSTMAS GIFT?? wtf. Why is a failure getting Christmas gifts. You fail in my house, you are lucky if you are eating for the night. FOH!!!! Maybe, Im a young old head but children don’t deserve accolades for being average.

By: Bee

Bee — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 02:10:12 +0000

The song choice. “Souljah boy off in them hoes!” Just wow. At a kindergarten prom? Anyway, what’s the point of a kindergarten prom? All the boys and girls dressed according to traditional gender codes and acting like little grown folks. Just wow. All I can say is this: black folks have lost their damn minds. And heterosexuals have gone nuts with their need to instill these heterosexual gender codes into kids at such an early age – that’s what this ish is about anyway. Let the girls learn early to be okay with being disrespected in rap songs. And to echo Tonton: finishing kindergarten is not a freaking milestone. It’s just the beginning. Graduations are to celebrate the end of a journey, and the beginning of new one. I could go on, but I’ll stop. That video sickened me.

By: gmarie

gmarie — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 23:17:40 +0000

I think education should be celebrated at every level tbh. Nothing wrong with rewarding students for making it to the next phase. As for the prom?…I really don’t see the big issue in that either. It’s just a formal event at the end of the day. An opportunity to increase their social skills and possibly even learn some etiquette. Balance is good.

By: Lulu

Lulu — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 23:01:58 +0000

I had graduations from preschool, elementary, and middle school, and honestly none of them took away from the experience of graduating “for real”. Once you get to high school your mind’s in a whole other place because youre done with grade school for good, and you have to take on responsibilities that you didnt need to worry about when you were moving from grade 5 to grade 6. So I think mini-graduations are fine… I dunno about the proms though. I think they should stick to “school dances”

By: Tara

Tara — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 22:43:37 +0000

What learning, obstacles, and achievements you all considered average and mediocre (i.e: learning ABCs and 123s) a five year old thinks is major and a big deal. And its hard for a five year old to foresee and wait for his high school graduation and prom as being the ONLY celebration his is entitled to.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating academic achievements. Its not like they are having these proms or graduations every weekend or at the end of every semester. Its one, three-hour celebration at the end of a school year (which from a five year old perspective a school year must take FOREVER to end). After kindergarten the next graduation isn’t until six years later. I think its okay to have another little celebration after six years of academic progress.

Plus its important to teach our children how to socialize early on. Yes,…that particular school failed at playing Souljah Boy at a Kindergarten Prom. But its an important life lesson to teach our kids how to dress up formally and how act properly in that attire.

I think that we need to lighten up and stop trying to find something wrong with everything. :(

By: African Mami

African Mami — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:55:26 +0000

@ Dalili!

To be honest, I ALWAYS look forward to seeing your greetings!!!!!!!!!!!! Girl please, if they ever banned you for promoting sisterhood, it would be a motherlover’s wrap!
There’s something about you, I don’t know I like!!! NYHOO, *HEYYYYYYYYYYY********
-eh, yes, I do have to agree that having a prom and what not is a tad excessive, even for a person as extra as me. But, if my kid’s school has it, I’ll support!

@iQgraphics,

Hun!!! I know I know, and you know what, it takes a kray to identify another.!!! *wink wink*

By: Cia

Cia — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:21:18 +0000

Exactly! Kidz Bop would have been great but why play Souljah (sp) Boy for 5 and 6 year olds!! A totally mess.

By: d_nicegirl

d_nicegirl — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:34:33 +0000

I agree with Bob.

By: Kacey

Kacey — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:34:31 +0000

Were they seriously playing Soulja Boy’s at a kindergarten prom? Couldn’t they play a Kidz Bop cd or something? *smh*

By: LemonNLime

LemonNLime — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:28:02 +0000

I remember my grad school, middle school, and high school graduations. For me they were a waste of time because it was expected by everyone, including myself, that I would graduate. It wasn’t seen as a celebration, it was just was expected so there wasn’t any reason to celebrate. College graduation there was a bit more celebration just because we spent so much money for the college degree and I had just gotten back from France but even then I was like I wanna just stay in France and backpack for the summer, screw graduation. But I was happy to be with my friends so it wasn’t all that horrible.

I have to agree with the movie and @Tonton Michel. To me having a kindergarten graduation or prom is no different than the kids who play basketball, don’t keep score during the game, and then hand out participation trophies to everyone OR students and teacher who think A is what is awarded for average work when really it is a C. It is just another way to celebrate mediocrity without making people “feel bad” or getting them to push themselves further.

By: Angie

Angie — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:04:56 +0000

My Son had a Kindergarten graduation recently. I think k-garten graduations are fine as they mark the beginning of a new phase in life. Gone are the days of preschool, pre-k and kindergarten. True grade school begins, and expectations will be higher. Senior High graduations mark the beginning of adulthood and the end of grade school. All the graduations in between seem rather gratuitous to me though. Now these baby proms….uuummmm, no!

By: iQgraphics

iQgraphics — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:00:39 +0000

brahahahaha!!! nursery school! @AM you a flaming hot mess!

By: Angie

Angie — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:56:23 +0000

My son recently had his kindergarten graduation. I was fine with that. It marks the beginning of a new phase in life. Gone are the days of preschool, pre-k and kindergarten. Grade school will begin and expectations will be higher. Just like graduating from high school marks the beginning of adulthood and the end of grade school. All the other graduations are probably gratuitous, though. And baby proms, yeah…no!

By: Dalili

Dalili — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:56:13 +0000

Greetings Sissy!!(I’ve left you greeting all over this blog today…they’ll soon ban me if I keep up)

LOL @ you’ll try not to be too loud! You’d have a ceremony for the rising of the sun if you could….love you for that….but this here is a tad excessive!

By: Dalili

Dalili — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:53:10 +0000

By: African Mami

African Mami — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:37:35 +0000

Yes, my school had grade graduations, starting from nursery! I LOVED it! The teachers were very much involved with every aspect of our lives, and that is why I am soooooo into graduation. My parents NEVER missed any of this. I suppose some people see it as celebrating mediocrity. I see it as a wonderful opportunity to get your kid to appreciate the essence of an education. I don’t see what the brouhaha is all about. I sure as hell will be forefront and center cheering my baby, when she is graduating from nursery school. I’ll try not to be loud.

By: Tonton Michel

Tonton Michel — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:28:16 +0000

I am against this for the subliminal message this instills in kids and parents of a certain socio economic background. It tells them that they have arrived and reached and end as opposed to them understanding the journey is not over yet and you still have work to do. You have HS drop outs who can say they have had a prom and graduation ceremony and they never got out of the 9th grade. These ceremonies are awards and privileges given to you for reaching a milestone. Getting out of middle and elementary schools are not milestones. That’s what you are supposed to do and what is expected of you. Your life does not start after that and you have earned nothing, its this type of thing that feeds into their little heads the sense of entitlement and this willingness to quit everything without trying first.

By: iQgraphics

iQgraphics — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:26:19 +0000

I do think a kindergarten or 1st grade graduation is important to instill the fact/hopes that completion is important and to be celebrated. A prom for those grades is silly.