Graduation: an End in Itself

Re “No Plans, No Graduation Rite, Seniors Told,” May 7: Allowing the Los Angeles school system’s local District C (covering the southwest Valley) high school seniors to participate in graduation ceremonies only if they’re committed to secondary education or training is, as one student put it, “nonsense.”

Graduation is a celebration of what has been accomplished, not of plans for the future. The policy is coercion at best. In the worst-case scenario, it punishes students who, for economic reasons, must work after high school rather than attend college. Successful college students are made by instilling in them a desire to achieve. Arm-twisting is no long-term solution.

Rocky Rushing

Encino

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District C Supt. Robert Collins says that the policy of denying graduating high school seniors the right to participate in graduation ceremonies unless they can show they are going on to college or into the military is not “harsh.” Clearly it is stupid, elitist, cruel and disrespectful of individuality. He says the policy has increased the number of students who say they will go to college. So what?

Since when do the ends justify the means? Participating in a graduation ceremony is most meaningful and most important for those not going on to college. The policy is telling all students, college-bound or otherwise, that respect for individual differences does not matter to us as long as aggregate numbers somewhere can make us look good. Is that what public schools should be teaching?

Lee C. McDonald

Claremont

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As a college graduate and the father of three children, two of whom are college-bound and one of whom has been very successful without college, I find the requirements discriminatory. Aside from the obvious ethical considerations, they epitomize the bureaucratic obsession with statistics. Officials say that college enrollment is up. Who cares if the students actually attend? Who cares if they actually succeed? No doubt some administrator will point with pride to “marked improvement.” Maybe someone will actually get grant money.

Greg Iungerman

Newhall

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My first reaction to your headline was an angry one. The requirement smacked of arrogance and class consciousness. However, upon reading the entire article, I gradually realized it was a clever and subtle attempt to expose the students to possibilities.

The requirements for evidence of compliance were so flexible, e.g., learning French in France, acceptance by a community college (a procedure less rigorous than applying for a driver’s license)--things absolutely everyone could easily comply with, especially since counselors were actively assisting them to do so. It is a sad fact that most young people entering the work force with only their high school diploma in hand will find supporting themselves a constant struggle. Those a little better equipped will prosper more easily and have a more fulfilling life.

Simple exposure to a possibility could bring great changes in the futures of these students. No, the educators are simply going one step further in their attempt to give our children an education. After all, commencement should be defined as a beginning, not an ending, of learning.

Mary Ann Scott

Los Angeles

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Seniors who have completed all requirements for graduation surely deserve the traditional honor of being recognized in the company of their relatives and peers. Many kids might even benefit from having a year or two to sort out things before committing to more years of the academic grind. This move also cheapens the value of a high school diploma. There are many who, later in life, struggle to get a GED with pride. Why should we not honor those students who have fulfilled all the requirements to graduate from high school?

Dilip Adarkar

Manhattan Beach