Too far? Arresting a mom for bad behavior at high school graduation
UPDATE: Closed comments on this post after 300 remarks. (And about 200 more that I either blocked or took down.)
I have been surprised at the amount of manic cheering at the high school graduations that I’ve attended. In some cases, exuberant family members scream so loudly for their graduates that they drown at the names of the next students.
But this seems to go a bit far: Arresting a South Carolina mom for yelling too loudly at her daughter’s ceremony?
When I read these stories, I wonder if high school graduations are following the path of children’s sporting events where vociferous parents have been told to tone it down or leave the field.
But I understand the frustration of parents when their child’s name is lost to the applause and cheers for the prior graduate. I attended one ceremony where the procession of graduates had to be halted until the cheering relatives calmed down.
According to the New York Daily News:
Beach balls and bullhorns are commonly banned from graduation ceremonies, but some schools also want to silence the screaming — going so far as to have overzealous audience members arrested.
That’s what reportedly happened to South Carolina mom Shannon Cooper, who was accused of whooping so loudly during her daughter’s high school graduation Saturday night that cops charged her with disorderly conduct and placed her in a detention center.
“Are ya’ll serious? Are ya’ll for real? I mean, that’s what I’m thinking in my mind,” Cooper told WPDE NewsChannel 15 in Myrtle Beach. “I didn’t say anything. I was just like OK, I can’t fight the law. “
Cooper said she didn’t act any differently than other families when their children’s names were called during the South Florence High School ceremony. Her daughter, Iesha, told WPDE she didn’t realize her mother was being arrested until her friends told her.
“They’re locking your momma up for cheering — and I was like that isn’t right because other people was cheering and they didn’t lock them up,” Iesha told the TV station.
Police reportedly warned parents that screaming would result in expulsion from the Florence Civic Center. Those who became disorderly as they were shown the exit were also arrested, officials said. That allegedly included Cooper, who was placed in a police van and then taken to a detention center. She was there for several hours before posting a $225 bond, according to WPDE.
“Yesterday can’t be replaced… My mama went to jail on my graduation day,” Iesha Cooper, 18, told the station.
It wasn’t jail but community service that student Anthony Cornist was reportedly handed after his graduation from Mt. Healthy Junior/Senior High School in Ohio. His family and supporters gave him such a rowdy reception that school officials denied him his diploma and told him he will have to perform 20 hours of community service before he can graduate, according to ABC 9 in Cincinnati.
“I will be holding your diploma in the main office due to the excessive cheering your guests displayed during the roll call,” principal Marlon Styles Jr. wrote to Cornist in a letter obtained by ABC 9. While the school didn’t respond to requests for comment, the senior said Monday he personally “did nothing wrong.”
The school is allowing Cornist to split the community service with his family, but his mother told ABC 9 the punishment is “ludicrous” and none of them would be doing it.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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297 comments Add your comment
Nunna Yobinnes
June 6th, 2012
12:50 pm
Perhaps the best solution would be to have two graduation ceremonies. One for the barn yard animal crowd and one for the civilized human beings. Unfortunately the teachers and administration would be stuck attending both events. Shame that we can’t all control ourselves for a few hours so that the ceremonies don’t have to be so long, everyone can hear their family member’s name announced and then everyone celebrate at the end, as was requested by this particular school board. Apparently this woman just felt she was just too special to follow the rules, and then acted like an even bigger jerk when removed from the ceremony.
Glen
June 6th, 2012
12:51 pm
I attended a graduation last month, and if I can help it I’ll not attend another one! The animal like yelling many people, some types of people more than others, makes the event low class. Seriously people…shut the hell up and clap politely so everyone’s name can be heard! It’s not that tough.
Noise maker
June 6th, 2012
12:53 pm
After reading all the comments here, I am convinced that next year I should plan to attend as many graduation events as possible and scream and yell the entire time until I am forcibly removed from the property. Then everybody there will have something to whine about.
BB
June 6th, 2012
12:56 pm
People today don’t know how to behave in public. Sadly, they see this kind of trashy behavior on so-called reality shows with people screaming at each other and pitching unholy fits in public. Whatever happened to plain old politeness and decorum? I would be mortified if a family member of mine behaved this way in public. Thank goodness my children feel the same way. Trashy is trashy no matter where you are!
Nunna Yobinnes
June 6th, 2012
12:56 pm
@Theracist – No problem, just be careful where you step.
Sue
June 6th, 2012
12:59 pm
I graduated back in the 60’s. Even back then, parents, families and friends were asked to reframe from applause or cheering until the last student had received his/her diploma. The students had worked hard for years, to earn the right to hear their name called and not be drowned out by cheering and load applause by somebody in the audience. It’s the student’s day not the noise makers. Respect for those simple, sensible requests seems to be slipping away in todays society. Shame on them! Congrats students.
SCJ
June 6th, 2012
1:07 pm
Arrest is a bit much. Now, escorting them out is fine. But to arrest them is disrepectful. Many schools tell you to wait until the last person on the row has received their diplomas before applause and cheers. And, in a recent graduation, the police escorted out those who did not comply. But to waste tax payer dollars on an arrest that has NO merit is foolish!!! And those cops (as well as those who order those arrest) should be ordered to repay the city for such Tom Foolery!!!
Nunna Yobinnes
June 6th, 2012
1:09 pm
@SCJ – I’m sorry, but I don’t think Tom Foolery graduated this year.
Nunna Yobinnes
June 6th, 2012
1:10 pm
If we’re lucky, someone will have video of the woman’s behavior, and provided to the court when her case is heard.
DB
June 6th, 2012
1:17 pm
@Ien Robertson: “People today are not expected to have emotions and celebrate.” Your logic is completely messed up, beause it assumes that people YESTERDAY were expected to have emotions and celebrate, which is clearly NOT the case, as most people remember graduation ceremonies of yesteryear as ceremonies of decorum. If a parent was proud back then, a few tears might escape, but they weren’t jumping up and down like escapees from an insane asylum.
These parents have confused the graduation ceremony with a party. Not every event is a part — some are ceremonies that mark significant passages. Even NFL plays get fined for “excessive celebration”. If the parents want to scream and yell and make fools of themselves, they should wait until AFTER the ceremony.
Hillbilly D
June 6th, 2012
1:49 pm
Not only do the kids think they are the center of the universe, but so do their parents.
There’s the source of most of our problems today and the acorn don’t fall far from the tree, as they say.
John
June 6th, 2012
2:13 pm
It’s the type of rude behavior that has been tolerated too long. Lady, shut your damn mouth.
TheGoldenRam
June 6th, 2012
2:16 pm
How about this plan? I’ve devised it based on merit.
We announce the graduates in order of class rank. That way the high achievers will all be able to hear their names called within an environment of respect & decorum. After your name is called, you & your family are free to leave. Consider it a reward proportional to your academic achievement. You did well so you sacrifice less both in time and aggravation. The top of the class will invariably have their sights set on college, so the ceremony isn’t going to hold the same prestige for them as it does for others. Those families get to leave before the occasion devolves into a circus at the back end of the line. Everybody wins (except teachers who have to stay through the whole thing, but they’re so used to being dumped on it probably wouldn’t phase them).
To really get some bang for the buck, bring in researchers and college students to study the correlation between academic achievement and familial self-respect, self-control and self-discipline.
KGray
June 6th, 2012
2:17 pm
I will be graduating this fall and will be receiving my Master’s and I have warned my family that we are a dignified family and if any of them act a fool and continue to call my name and or applaud loudly. They will be cut off from any family functions being held at my home; because, it’s not like I’m the first to receive a Master’s in the family.
Precious
June 6th, 2012
2:18 pm
They Violated This Mom Constitutions Rights
Precious
June 6th, 2012
2:29 pm
you have to give up a right for someone eles Wrong but
that’s
okay let God Handle it
Just wow.
June 6th, 2012
2:30 pm
“They Violated This Mom Constitutions Rights”
That will never stop being funny (and sad).
CobbTeach
June 6th, 2012
2:31 pm
Students invite people to their graduation ceremony – not a party at school. The parents should have been asked to leave, but being arrested seems a bit harsh. Each student has worked hard and deserves their moment to shine. Allowing 400+ families per graduation to whoop and holler would make the ceremony excruciatingly long.
The notion that some people think that all of the noise and commotion is acceptable is exactly why I still have to make teaching manners and respect a part of my elementary school curriculum every year.
AC
June 6th, 2012
2:38 pm
Americans are a scary bunch. Jail time for non violent behaviour? I’m thinking 1930s here, so glad I’m not living in the States. No guarantee I won’t be bombed by the same goosesteppers though…
Brainiac
June 6th, 2012
2:42 pm
@ Len Robertson:
People like you are responsible for idiotic displays we now face at ceremonies such as this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No respect for anybody includuding themselves!!!!!!
Like them you possibly/probably never graduated from High School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
phil
June 6th, 2012
2:43 pm
Follow the RULES, idiots. Be quiet and respectful…
As for punishing the graduate, that’s not right.
phil
June 6th, 2012
2:44 pm
Precious
June 6th, 2012
2:18 pm
They Violated This Mom Constitutions Rights
***************
If a constitutional right fell from the sky and hit you in the head, you wouldn’t know what it is.
Go back to school.
Nunna Yobinnes
June 6th, 2012
2:49 pm
Golden Ram – I think your idea is extraordinary and should become statewide policy. That way, when your child is finished you can leave and the ones that want to yell and scream can do so to their hearts’ content. I feel sorry for the faculty that has to wait through the whole thing though. Maybe the faculty could attend in split shifts.
TheGoldenRam
June 6th, 2012
2:56 pm
Thank you Nunna.
I think my idea would work pretty well.
It’s also much more politically correct than my first plan.
That was…
The top half of the graduating class holds their ceremony at the traditional venue.
The bottom half of the graduating class holds their ceremony at the local Chuck E. Cheese.
TeacherMom4
June 6th, 2012
3:02 pm
GoldenRam, I love both of your ideas!
Turn the Tasers ON!
June 6th, 2012
3:12 pm
This is not a sporting event….this is not a party….after she was told one time, the POLICE should have turned the TASERS loose on her, then she would have had something to yell about.
Educated One
June 6th, 2012
3:29 pm
Precious
June 6th, 2012
2:18 pm
They Violated This Mom Constitutions Rights
You obviously have not ever stepped foot near a graduation of any kind.
On the subject matter, I agree with the comments that this type of behavior is completely disrespectful and a downright sign of how selfish Americans are.
I just got home from a trip to Germany and I can honestly say that Germans do NOT act like this. They follow the rules for pretty much everything and they act 110% more civilized than the majority of Americans, though, I should say more civilized than American’s that make less than about $35,000 a year and are on at least 1 or 2 government programs.
And, once again, lets be honest here, if you have to yell and scream at your kid who is graduating something as measly as high school, then you have really set the bar awful low for your kid. Half of the kids there probably shouldn’t be graduating anyways.
DebbieDoRight
June 6th, 2012
4:04 pm
Educated One – You must’ve never been to an Oktoberfest!
Lower-class citizens need public taming
June 6th, 2012
4:12 pm
@educated one: unfortunately, there probably are correlations between poverty and social misbehavior. It would be interesting if a social scientist somewhere would set up studies to actually quantify this. Other variables may have to be substituted instead of income level since it would be difficult to determine how much someone makes by their public behavior.
Champ
June 6th, 2012
4:16 pm
In the African American Church often the pastor say stand up, clap your hands and give God praise. The people will half-heartedly praise God because the pastor told them to do it. People don’t like being told what to do so; I believe the graduation Marshall/official should make the following statement “I DEMAND everybody in this arena/gym/stadium stand up, high 5, chest or fist bump and scream to the top of your lung your graduate name and/or nickname for 5 minutes or until your voice gives out or whichever comes first.” Then DEMAND them to get back up and cheer for about 2 more minutes for before they announce the graduates name…I bet that would put a stop to it.
Nunna Yobinnes
June 6th, 2012
4:36 pm
Golden Ram – your second idea is also an excellent one.
Champ – your idea has a lot of merit to it also. Perhaps if they had demanded that the parents yell and scream, none of them would have done it.
Nancy
June 6th, 2012
5:17 pm
I think this really comes down to appropriate behavior for the setting. A graduation is a wonderful accomplishment, and in some families, it might be the first member to achieve such an accomplishment. Enthusiasm is understandable…HOWEVER…part of maturing is learning what behavior is appropriate when…cheering at a sporting event is ok…cheering during a ceremony that should be dignified and decorous is not. I have noticed that all it takes is a couple of families to break the “rule” and suddenly everyone feels like they now HAVE to cheer when their child walks. Set a good example for your kids…show them that you know what is appropriate for the setting…then when you go outside after the graduation ceremony, whoop and holler all you want!
alch
June 6th, 2012
5:42 pm
Where is the Like button? @Golden Ram, great idea!
And this is why I attend graduation when I have to…if my kid is graduating. I work in higher ed and skip Commencement every year. People do not know how to behave…too boisterous for my taste. It is a Commencement Ceremony…the beginning, not the end!
Kat
June 6th, 2012
5:54 pm
“Yesterday can’t be replaced… My mama went to jail on my graduation day,” Iesha Cooper, 18, told the station. (aka: A huge pile of cash just MIGHT make me okay again after having my feelings hurt…which by the way I didn’t know she had been taken to jail until AFTER graduation.
Lock them up
June 6th, 2012
6:02 pm
I couldn’t hear my nephew’s speech at his graduation because of the disrespectful people in the auditorium. He was so upset and my family was pissed, I’m glad she was locked up! I wish a certain race of people had more etiquette
RK
June 6th, 2012
6:42 pm
There is a direct correlation between the decibel level of the ‘cheering’ and the lack of intelligence in that family.
Of course, if this is the very first child in the entire family
to finish high school, I can kind of understand the excitement.
RK
June 6th, 2012
6:47 pm
Goldenram
I LOVE your idea of awarding diplomas in the order of the class rank. EXCELLENT idea!!
Charlie Law
June 6th, 2012
6:56 pm
Get schooled: you + all = y’all, not ya’ll.
The apostrophe represents the letters “lost” in the contraction.
OldBravesBag
June 6th, 2012
7:20 pm
If they told the parents they could go crazy after all the names were called….scream, carry on, blow horns, shake cow bells, and the like….maybe that would help. My son’s graduation was like that, and my daughter’s college graduation. I’ve never seen such disrespect. But I understand excitement, so giving them the chance after it’s over would be a compromise. Just let everyone out that doesn’t want their ear drums blown to bits. Arrests and withholding diplomas are not necessary.
Barack O
June 6th, 2012
7:48 pm
Lemme guess. The family in question was a white, middle class family where both parents work, obey the law, and care for their kids?
No? Seriously?
Archie
June 6th, 2012
8:25 pm
@BB: Plain old politeness and decorum and Southern hospitality in Georgia has gone the way of the five-cent candy bar. The last high school graduation I had the doubtful privilege of attending in 2001, left me thinking at the end: “The preceding program was taped before a live laugh-track machine, it threw up.”
Lil' Barry Bailout
June 6th, 2012
8:35 pm
It’s great to see the jerks get what they deserve.
Po Dunk
June 6th, 2012
8:43 pm
And once again yet another high school trying to act like or above the law. The kid earned his diploma. It is a record. He is not responsible for his guests. Does he have to get a writ of mandamus to get you to do your job? You stupid, pedantic, glorified baby sitter. You have no legal authority to withhold a rightfully earned diploma, Styles. Do stop making yourself look stupider and give up the documents lest you get “schooled” by the judiciary. And truly, if conspiracy is a prosecutor’s best friend, “disorderly conduct” as a charge is the same for law enforcement. Don’t need to prove much. Don’t let the facts get in the way. (Cf this case from last year when a man faked his mom’s death to get time off work. The charge? Disorderly conduct. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57340550-504083/man-fakes-moms-death-to-get-paid-time-off-from-work-say-pa-cops/) Hope he fought it.
Xeno Phobe
June 6th, 2012
8:48 pm
Germans do NOT act like this. Nah. They’re too busy discriminating against Arabs, criticizing the US, and planning their next foray into genocide and bailing out Greece. They also love dogs, hate children, and but of the immigrants, would have a negative birth rate. Of course they don’t act like this. There aren’t enough natives to justify having the ceremonies.
krar
June 7th, 2012
1:21 pm
Why is AJC wasting space on this issue? I have had 3 children graduate from large public High Schools and 2 of those 3 graduate from college and the emotions expressed by some families is easy to overlook. We arrest parents for their celebrations but crime is overlooked in our schools and communities. For some families their graduates are the first is several generations.
Garry Owen
June 7th, 2012
4:01 pm
As I retired school administrator I saw students acting in the school the same way parents acted at school events even when the ground rules for proper conduct were presented in clear and concise terms. Want to know why schools are having a hard time educating students? Watch their parents!
Misha
June 8th, 2012
1:52 pm
Welcome to the police state…