What kind of message do you think this parent was sending to their kid?

Do you have a link?

Whew. Got in under the edit window. Twice!

Rules are rules.

One that says, fuck bullshit rules, proud & spontaneous…good on them.

I think they were inappropriate and obnoxious but arrested? I mean, really.

While I think that it does sound, on the face of it, ridiculous, I’d love to know if there was backstory.
When my kids were graduating high school there had been an escalating problem of rowdiness and disrespect from the onlookers. People would cheer and carry on, then leave and make noise on the way out. I don’t know if arrests were ever made, but pretty intense measures were taken to escort people away, and in some cases withhold diplomas.
The graduation ceremonies are much more orderly now.

And I didn’t answer your question, sorry. I think the kids got the message that some battles are not worth fighting.

Do you think they got the message that you don’t have to obey rules if you don’t feel like it? I’m not talking about bad rules, like, “Whites only,” “rules” that need to be changed, but just rules in general.

Were the offenders aware of the rules? Where is this jurisdiction, and what authority prosecutes the “offense” of “willful applauding”?

Well, here is a different, but similar, story. They’d sent out several notices in the preceding days.
I’m betting they put it out over the PA before the ceremonies started, too. That’s what they did at the graduation I recently went to . However, all the kids got cheered, by someone, but only very briefly. I just wonder how loud and rambunctious these parents were, and how long they yelled and whistled.

If relatives were allowed to cheer it would become a competition to see who could cheer the loudest and for the longest. Parents show their appreciation for their children by simply being at the ceremony. Cheering when asked not to will embarrass the child rather than make him/her feel proud so why do it?

I would think so, @flutherother. There is also the question of how loud and how long it went on? Was it so loud and long that it disrupted the ceremonies? There are people who will do that, and not give a shit.

Arrested? As far as I know that wouldn’t be a crime. What were they charged with?

Oh…they were black. That explains it.

“Do you think they got the message that you don’t have to obey rules if you don’t feel like it?”

I think most parents are far from perfect role models. Most lie, on occasion, while saying that lying is never okay. Many cheat on their taxes, while saying that stealing is wrong. They tell their children not to hurt others, then give them a smack.

That it is better to expatriate to Canada, an actually civilised country.

Disorderly conduct, @tinyfaery.

I know, @longgone. We all mess up, usually without realizing it, or meaning to. But this seems different. This was just rude.

”This was just rude.”
Kicking them out for cheering? yes.
Threatening them with jail time? downright fascist.
And the worst part is, that you are fine with this 3rd reich bullshit.

There is always somebody who thinks they are excluded from an expectation of simple social courtesy and restraint. They are indeed rude and obnoxious.
And the sun comes up tomorrow.

I don’t agree with them getting jail time and fines, @ragingloli. Don’t know where you got the idea that I did. What I don’t like is the possibility that they weren’t just “cheering,” but they were yelling and hooting and screaming and whistling for an extended period of time, bringing everything to a halt. That’s just rude, and they deserved to be kicked out

I think arresting them seems extreme and unnecessary.

I wonder if there is more to this story or their behavior was something more than just applauding and “showing their love” (the family’s description).

One of the articles has a video. Not sure which one.

@Dutchess_III: Did the applause and behavior look excessively boisterous?

I can’t watch the video, but it sounds like they were proud, happy and exuberant parents. How to ruin a wonderful occcasion for families. The story says the family weren’t violent, they didn’t cause a confrontation with the police, they just cheered on their kids. To arrest them frankly seems like a crime to me.

When I was reading this, I was thinking about how few Aboriginal kids graduate from high school. I’m not sure if the same is true for Black kids in the US or particularly in this area, but graduation for any kid is cause for celebration but for some minorities, it is even more of a celebration because so few make it to that day.

I’m not sure if the parents were trying to make a stand. That’s not clear from the story. The story suggests they just got carried away with their pride and exuberance. I wouldn’t blame them if they were trying to make a point. Some rules should be broken. Applauding and celebrating the success of every kid who walked across that stage seems like a wonderful thing for all the parents there to do. I think the people who made the rules should be arrested for being killjoys.

On one of the radio stations here in the NY Metro area, they regularly feature the “Donkey of the Day.” They talk about some idiot who did something stupid, whether it’s a celebrity or a regular citizen, and they play donkey braying noises “hee haw, hee haw.” Today, the Donkey of the Day was this principal in the question above. They played a news clip from the local Mississippi station and discussed how stupid this principal’s decision was, and how he’s the type of guy that ruins other peoples’ good times. Another thing I found interesting from hearing the news clip from the Mississippi station was that the anchorman pronounced “ask” as “aks.” Amazing that they have a professional orator mispronouncing words.

Again, @Earthbound_Misfit, it depends on if they took it to excess, and I bet they did. Let me see if I can find the article that said it had a video.
Their point is, they were so loud and it went on long enough that the next student to walk….no one could hear their name being called.

That’s certainly a worthwhile use of public dollars. Gotta make sure the nigg the spoo the moole the colored folks know their place.

I don’t know that it had as much to do with color as with volume and intensity.

Somehow I doubt the reaction would have been quite so severe had the family been white.

I don’t know.

I don’t care how loud they were, arresting them is an over-reaction. Why not just have them removed from the event if they were making an unreasonable amount of noise? However, five families obviously didn’t think the noise they were making was unreasonable. Arresting them after the event is way over-the-top. I haven’t seen the video but I’m finding it hard to imagine how bad people could be that it deserved arresting and fining them.

I agree @Earthbound_Misfit.