Native Americans protest South High's refusal to let student wear eagle plumes, beads on graduation

[RobinA]

49. Sometimes Not

I went to one, the first, of my three graduations. I am not much for ritual, but I think that if you are going to participate in ritual you do it with respect for the ritual and the people to whom it is important. I found high school graduation appalling, with stuff written on caps, air horns, silly string and the like. If the ceremony means so little to you, stay the hell home. I didn't know what graduation was going to mean to me before I went to that first one, but I found the reality farcical. It was supposed to be a solumn occasion, but people turned it into a joke... Thereafter I stayed the hell home.

Academic dress is a traditional dress. Yes, it's European and therefore allowed to be derided these days. No feathers, no crucifixes, no lettering on caps, no bling. The honest thing to do if one doesn't like it or approve of it is to abstain from it.