Finishing pre-school and kindergarten IS NOT GRADUATION!!!
I feel like this is a symptom of a larger problem in our society, where *yay* everybody wins! Rewarding accomplishments that aren't really accomplishments rewards laziness and punishes ambition and destroys competition. It may help the self esteem of some people, but it will destroy others. Not just their self esteem, but their drive to succeed. If they are going to win no matter what, why bother trying? And by the way, does it honestly boost your self esteem to be rewarded for a false accomplishment?
I say NO to preschool graduation! I was lucky this year because I didn't have to explain to Nicco why we aren't going to his graduation. There aren't any formal start or end dates at his school, so I just decided that the end of May is a good time for us to stop. His graduation isn't until July, so they haven't even talked about it. He won't know he's missing something. So besides being anti-preschool graduation, this particular celebration costs participants $22. For a diploma. And a cap and gown. For a 5 year old. Unbelievable.
I'm out to change the world one passive aggressive non-participation at a time!
Peace will find a way
7 years ago
5 comments:
I agree with you! I think it is ridiculous to do those graduations with caps and gowns for little kids, I think it looks dumb and it cheapens real graduations like from college and grad school. I kind of even think high school graduation is silly- everyone can accomplish that one! But- we will celebrate it with our kids. I guess high school is the only graduation some people (like me) ever do.
I even think it is a little worse than looking dumb...it is disturbing to me, along the same lines as toddler pageants. It is just wrong to dress little kids up and have them perform and behave like grown-ups. This is different from pretend play. I also think it is worse than cheapening real graduation, which it does, I mean what will high school or college graduation mean to someone who has been "graduating" since he was 5? But it is worse than that...it feeds the entitlement mentality and validates laziness. Also, which I think is the worst thing of all, is the minimizing of risk-reward and competition. Especially for boys. This of course is not to say that if we ended preschool and kindergarten graduations all would be right with the world, but I do see it as a symptom of a grand societal problem. Stepping down.
Also, regarding HS graduation, even if it is easy for most people, there are still actual steps and requirements. And, it is more than meeting those requirements. It is a transition from childhood to adulthood. A rite of passage of sorts. I think that is valuable, and going from preschool to kindergarten or kindergarten to 1st grade is not the same.
WOW! You have to pay for it? Ours normally does a little program, they sing songs, look cute, and eat pizza. They get a little paper diploma and thats that. This year since her Dad had just died,they had a little party and got little paper graduation caps. I had no idea they had "ceremonies" that elaborate. I am with you!
I am all in favor of celebrating the end of a school year, but really, I think that a song, certificate, and ice cream should be the max!
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