A friend posted pictures of his kid’s “5th grade graduation” on Facebook. As a kid I had nursery school graduation and high school graduation.
Nursery school graduation I can kind of get because you’re ready for public school.
Any other grades just seem kind of over the top. I guess maybe parents like nursery school graduation but… are they doing graduation for every single grade now?!
I don’t have kids but I’m not sure I’d make it as a parent this day in age. I’d do a lot of “this is stupid.”
I do not get all the different “graduations”. Here they seem to do one every time you change schools. So for us there will be a Grade 6 & Grade 9 and then High school grad.
I don’t actually know what they do for the grade 6 kids here (my kid is only in grade 5), but I’m hoping it’s just an afternoon party or something.
My kid’s school has them every time they change schools. Although covid took the 5th grade one away. I think they are nice (although 5th grade is suspect to me since it’s a k-8 and they just move to a different hall).
But in general I’m in favor of more cake eating occasions rather than less.
A friend posted pictures of his kid’s “5th grade graduation” on Facebook. As a kid I had nursery school graduation and high school graduation.
Nursery school graduation I can kind of get because you’re ready for public school.
Any other grades just seem kind of over the top. I guess maybe parents like nursery school graduation but… are they doing graduation for every single grade now?!
I don’t have kids but I’m not sure I’d make it as a parent this day in age. I’d do a lot of “this is stupid.”
Seems like something born from the desire to post bragging photos on social media.
i have no recollection of an elementary school ceremony. Doesn’t mean there wasn’t one though.
I remember a jr. high graduation in theb 70s, long before any social media.
My two oldest had elementary school ceremonies, also before social media.
I see no problem with any of this, nor do I see a trend of inappropriately celebrating the expected. I see these as not much more that a rite of passage, Not as an accomplishment.
My son just graduated from college this last weekend. I told him that that was a real accomplishment, much more so than high school, which is something that most kids without significant hurdles or who are not Boeberts do without really trying.
“We expect you to graduate High school. You don’t need a party for it.”
I am proud of my son who is graduating high school in a couple of weeks, but not because he is graduating from high school. With the opportunities and support he has been given celebrating him graduating from high school is a step above congratulating him for still being alive. That said I see people at the local high school where graduation is a true accomplishment given the hurdles they had to overcome, and that is exciting to me.
Nobody needs a party for graduation but that doesn’t mean stopping and eating cake occasionally to enjoy things is bad.
This is true. We are having a party because just like my birthday which I would rather avoid, it seems to be a great excuse to force people to come together and party.
Was just going through boxes of old crap over the weekend.
We had a graduation ceremony after 8th grade and high school. Crazy enough I have the program from my 8th grade graduation. The theme was “We’ve only just begun”. Guess how long ago that was…hint is the song was a hit at the time.
I find Graduation parties to be a grift. We did have one. but just in the few hours before the actual graduation so relatives could attend and not have to travel twice. And not the ridiculous tented extravaganza that I see at a lot of others.
In my area, 5th grade is the end of elementary school, then on to middle school which is 6th-8th grade. My boys had a “promotion” ceremony which consisted of a quick walk across a stage setup in the gym, being handed a piece of paper saying “Congrats!”, and then some cake. It took about 1 hour out of our day. I thought it was cute.
Just an aside, going from k-5 to middle school is a big adjustment for these kids. They are now going to a place where 4-5 elementary schools are feeding into one school. They were the big fish in a little pond at their K-5, now they are a tiny fish in a very big pond in middle school. And middle school sucks on so many levels.
A friend posted pictures of his kid’s “5th grade graduation” on Facebook. As a kid I had nursery school graduation and high school graduation.
Nursery school graduation I can kind of get because you’re ready for public school.
Any other grades just seem kind of over the top. I guess maybe parents like nursery school graduation but… are they doing graduation for every single grade now?!
I don’t have kids but I’m not sure I’d make it as a parent this day in age. I’d do a lot of “this is stupid.”
I went to a K-6 school. Upon finishing Grade 6 we had a small “Graduation” ceremony.
I then attended 7-8 school. We had a “Graduation” ceremony at the end of Grade 8.
Then I had the standard high school Graduation.
I am 46. This isn’t new.
Although “Graduating” from Grade 5 seems odd unless the school is K-5.
I don’t think we celebrate kids’ school achievements enough. Parents should be actively involved in the recognition of schooling and show the kids that they value education. So if parents want to throw a party for an academic benchmark, I view it as a good thing. Kids need to feel more positives about their education. I don’t even mind spotting a $20 to help the kid get a little more serotonin out of their academics.
As for graduations, we had 8th grade and 12th grade. For the current generation, they seem to be happening when a kid ages up to a new school. They ‘graduate’ to a new building, if you would. So kindergarten graduation moves them into elementary school. Fifth grade graduation moves them into middle school. Middle school graduation moves them into high school. High school graduation moves them into the abyss.