Student Blows Kiss is Denied Diploma

Imagine the surprise when a student innocently blows a kiss to his mom suddenly gets denied his diploma. This is exactly what happened recently in Standish, Maine. Justine Denney was graduating from Boony Eagle High School. When he went on the stage at Cumberland County Civic Center to receive his high school diploma he took a quick bow and he blew out a kiss. The superintendent made him go back to his seat. He was told he was not allowed to receive his diploma because of his misbehavior. His mom, Mary Denney, wants him to get his diploma back with an apology.

I have to be honest that when I first saw this story I was amazed that this could happen. After all, I had just myself witnessed the same things happen in the town I lived in when my child graduated from middle school. Maybe it is where I live, but the crowd that I was with hooted and whistled when a student took a bow. Knowing myself, I probably would have had big giant tears roll down my face if my son had thrown out a kiss in my general direction.

The reason for this is because graduation whether from pre-school all the way up to college is a pretty big deal for not just the student but for the parent as well. I am having a hard time fathoming a high school that could so easily rip away that joyful moment of a parent watching their child receive their diploma. How could a school take away such a proud moment for both the student and parents? All I can say is the school better be glad that I was not the mom sitting in that congregation seeing her child denied their diploma.

In my eyes, there just was not any good justification for this to happen. The student had worked academically hard to receive their diploma. He did that. What right did the school have to take that away from him? His behavior was not bad. He did not do something as absurd as flip off the crowd, or do something like moon the world. He simply took a bow, and blew a kiss.

A bow shows that he was proud of himself, and honestly he should be because graduating from high school is a big deal. He blew a kiss clearly showing love. I am a bit confused how that could be misconstrued as bad behavior. Maybe I need to go back to school to be instructed on how this is possibly a bad thing? Then again maybe the superintendent and principal should go back to school because clearly they do not understand the definition of "misbehavior".

Usually there are a lot of grey areas in things. However, in this situation if you ask me, there is just plain black. The school is in the wrong. I agree with Mary Denney. The school should give Justin Denney his diploma right away along with a very sincere apology. All I can say is that I am just glad my kids do not go to Bonny Eagle High School. This whole situation just seems very wrong and sad to me.

Source:
http://www.10news.com/education/19766393/detail.html