Graduation privilege becomes hammer of accountability for senior behaviors

Tears fell as fast as seniors running away from West when last year’s graduation day rolled around. Unlike this year, skipping one measly class made a student ineligible to walk the stage at graduation in the past. But the circumstances have changed: attendance policies are different, and it’s a lot more difficult to even receive a detention. So, is one detention ruining one’s chances of not walking still ridiculous? Or is it warranted now? 

Firstly, to even be handed the dreaded green slip, situations must be more extreme now. Getting in a fight? Bringing a weapon to school? Those clearly constitute a punishment. But, the set guidelines in order to walk the stage at graduation are to be a “student in good standing” and according to the Oshkosh West High School's Student Handbook (wait -- we have one of those?), in order to be a student in good standing you must “adhere to the Oshkosh West High School attendance and tardiness policies, have no unpaid fees or fines, have no unserved detentions, and have not been suspended out of school in the past 60 days.” Although fairly vague, denying a student their right to walk at graduation for any of the aforementioned reasons is valid. The attendance policies are much more lenient and skipping one class does not constitute a detention. So senior skip days won’t prevent those angsty graduates from walking anymore. 

However, it’s important to understand whether the consequences are even effective in preventing bad behavior, or if it is even fair to not allow students to walk at graduation. Let’s also consider the things that young students do to get a detention that may warrant that type of punishment. Students that aren’t in good standing can’t go to prom or purchase a parking pass either, yet “bad behavior” still runs rampant throughout the school. So is this policy really doing anything? 

Well, it has already been proven that other “no tolerance” policies regarding bad behavior have proven to push kids out of the classroom more than allow them to learn from their mistakes. It is egregiously unfair to treat students like adults since students usually can’t speak up against their punishment without receiving a harsher punishment. 

For some students, if they aren’t allowed to get that experience to walk at graduation, it could hinder any desire to pursue higher education. And what is the point in preventing bad behavior right before graduation? When students hear that getting detention will prevent them from walking, they’re also hearing “well after that point it won’t matter.” But, is there a fundamental right to walk at graduation? 

  Walking at graduation is a privilege similar to driving. If a student becomes a chronic truant, harms other students, and violates any other school rules, it is sensible that they be denied that right to walk. Students do have a legal right to graduate and to earn their diploma, but whether they walk or not is completely up to the school. Some students choose not to walk for other circumstances, even if they are technically able to. However, the fact that the right to walk at graduation is not a legal one does not negate the arbitrariness of holding the tradition as a punishment. At this point, most seniors that have done something to get detention don’t really care anymore. As previously stated, this sort of no-tolerance policy for walking at graduation doesn’t prevent bad behavior from happening; it just creates another bad consequence without any real action being taken. 

So, even though skipping a class won’t land a detention anymore, the consequence of not being able to walk at graduation because of one detention only creates unnecessary tension. It just isn’t preventing the hoped for behaviors.

By Anika Flores

May 22 2023

Oshkosh West index Volume 119 Issue VIII