Three current and/or former students of mine will not be participating in this Thursday's graduation exercises.
One will not graduate. He came by to assure me today that he's getting his stuff together by going to a junior college and will eventually become a Highway Patrolman.
Another will not graduate. His parents want him to have another year of high school eligibility for basketball, presumably so colleges can have another look.
A third will graduate but will not go through the ceremony because of his participation in some inappropriate activity.
They'll all be OK.
Sometimes I think we should worry less about those who find another path to success and more about those who readily conform. I know kids who will graduate this weekend who are in no way prepared for independence. I know kids who have had their path made smooth and their burdens light by parents who didn't understand that struggle for independence sometimes includes failure as a learning tool. Most of these kids, due to their parents' incomes, will go to college somewhere. They really don't need financial aid because their parents can pay the full fare. But while some will seize a chance to grow up out of the shadow of Mom and Dad, others will languish in perpetual party mode until the college invites them to leave. It's been a scenario I have witnessed more than once. I am not sure when it happened, but adolescence seems to have been lengthened to include most of the 20's and some of the 30's.
ReplyDelete"A third will graduate but will not go through the ceremony because of his participation in some inappropriate activity."
ReplyDeleteDid this involve the car trunk???
Oh, man, I hope so (then this blog has foreshadowing and becomes literature!)
-Mark Roulo
Sorry to disappoint. You can expect excellent commentary here, but apparently not excellent literature (at least according to Mark Roulo).
ReplyDelete