Middle School Graduation an actual thing?

[Fooz]

the whole graduation thing is pointless, even in high school, here in england you get fuck all for doing that, its just something you have to do

my cousin got $100 from my dad for "graduating" high school, when i finished high school, i got fuck all

it so ridiculous in my opinion, but graduating college or university, thats something to celebrate and praise

 

[viranimus]

Apparently they are. I know my ex fiancee got pissed at me because I skipped her sons middleschool graduation.

I was astounded. I had to reply "Oh yes, it makes a lot of sense to celebrate him doing what he is required by law to do. Why would you celebrate a non accomplishment?"

 

[Deacon Cole]

I remember when I was a kid they had a little ceremony when we completed kindergarten, complete with paper mortar board caps.

it is stupid. I think it was expressed best in the Incredibles:

Helen: I can't believe you don't want to go to your own son's graduation.
Bob: It's not a graduation. He is moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade.
Helen: It's a ceremony!
Bob: It's psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional...

 

[smearyllama]

There's not really a "middle school graduation" where I come from (Northern VA).
8th graders just got on the bus and left on the last day.
No ceremonies.
Maybe some places hand out certificates, but we just got a cool party at the end of the year, which ended with me having a face covered in marker.

Also, Freshmen and Sophomores are the first and second years of high school, respectively, OP.

 

[Elfgore]

Yep. It was a complete waste of time.

 

[bliebblob]

If graduating somewhere isn't a good reason to celebrate, I don't know what is. You are closing a chapter of your life succesfully. You finally achieved something you WORKED for for years. -Worked- being the operative word there because it didn't just happen, you MADE it happen.

And I think that applies to any level of school, even elementary. Because even though it may seem like easy mode now, it wasn't back than.

Besides, it's a good way to get some closure and perform all sorts of social obligations like exchanging email adresses and saying bye to friends you won't see again for a while. When else will you do that? On the last normal day of school seems premature and your teacher won't appreciate it if you do it during the actual exams.

 

[game-lover]

Yeah, it's real. I had one. Got dressed up for it and everything.

I mostly enjoyed it 'cause I didn't have class.

But for a reason for it, I'll just point to the reply above me. bliebblob sums it up quite nicely, I think.

For mine, we had little awards and then everyone filed out to say goodbye to each other and talk. I remember one of my middle school teachers crying. Actually, other students cried too. Which is another reason it could be a big deal. A lot of friends were dealing with the fact that they likely wouldn't be going to the same high school anymore. So they wouldn't see each other as much if ever again.


Also, for the whole law requirement thing, I recall having to take tests to make sure I got into middle school and I think high school. So maybe that's another reason. The tests were totes in the middle of the year in our own time but still.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

I guess this question is aimed mainly at Americans? In the British education system you sometimes go to college* in years 12 an 13 (16-18 YO) because not all secondary schools have a 6th form** (oh god, this is going to get confusing). My secondary school did so I stayed at school in the 6th form but for people who leave school and go off to college at 16 they might have some sort of graduation party I suppose.

*The yanks call university college so maybe this is where you are getting confused.

** When I was a kid you were in the 1st year (of secondary school) at year 7, 2nd at year 8 etc so years 12 and 13 were called the 6th form where you did your A levels. They changed it about half way through and we were supposed to call ourselves year 11 or whatever but we never did, 5th form or death you bastards! Anyways, If you wanted to do Alevels but your school didn't do them you went to a separate 6th form college (as opposed to an adult education college), hence the places that do A levels, BTECs and all those other bizarre acronyms being called college in the UK.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

So i was watching an episode of Modern Family where one of the children was graduating, which confused me as i thought she was still in what you would call middle school. However it turns out (in the show and i did a little googling) that 'graduation' from middle school is an actual thing.

I could not believe that graduation from middle school is a serious thing. Maybe its just culture shock, like 'sophomores' and 'freshmen' (still not entirely sure what those are, then again you often call years 11 and 12 college right?) as i'm from Australia where we do nothing like that, most schools just go straight from middle to senior levels with no distinction or fuss and its often at the same school. It seems a bit odd to celebrate graduating from middle school as it doesn't really mean anything right, is there some kind of actual diploma you recieve from merely completing middle school? You're only 15 or so and it just seems weird.

So is middle school graduation an actual, serious thing? Did you celebrate it?

okay i don't know where you got your sources but your stuff is very...jumbled. i'll try and break it down better for you

Middle school:

grade 7 and grade 8
roughly 11-13 years of age
graduation is a fucking joke, everyone knows it is, it's just a last day "hoorah" kind of thing i guess

high school:

grade 9,10,11,12 (freshman,sophmore,junior,senior...respectively)
roughly 14-18 years of age
graduation is still once again, a joke, if you actually are proud to have graduated from high school then i feel very sad for you once you get out into the real world.

then after that is college/university (they are used interchangeably in the US,basically)
basically to infinite and beyond for how old you are and when you graduate...i had a 80 year old woman in one of my classes last year.

 

[Gudrests]

So i was watching an episode of Modern Family where one of the children was graduating, which confused me as i thought she was still in what you would call middle school. However it turns out (in the show and i did a little googling) that 'graduation' from middle school is an actual thing.

I could not believe that graduation from middle school is a serious thing. Maybe its just culture shock, like 'sophomores' and 'freshmen' (still not entirely sure what those are, then again you often call years 11 and 12 college right?) as i'm from Australia where we do nothing like that, most schools just go straight from middle to senior levels with no distinction or fuss and its often at the same school. It seems a bit odd to celebrate graduating from middle school as it doesn't really mean anything right, is there some kind of actual diploma you recieve from merely completing middle school? You're only 15 or so and it just seems weird.

So is middle school graduation an actual, serious thing? Did you celebrate it?

Year 11 is a junior and 12 is a senior in Highschool. K 1 2 -12 like that. Middle school ends at the end of 8th grade. A freshman/sophmore is 9th then 10th....ummmmm and yes...mainly because its the end of what little soul and goodness you had left before Highschool takes it all away...and no its not really serious...but they do it because....idk everyones special or some shit.

<--- DA MERICAN!!!

 

[Mr. Google]

So i was watching an episode of Modern Family where one of the children was graduating, which confused me as i thought she was still in what you would call middle school. However it turns out (in the show and i did a little googling) that 'graduation' from middle school is an actual thing.

I could not believe that graduation from middle school is a serious thing. Maybe its just culture shock, like 'sophomores' and 'freshmen' (still not entirely sure what those are, then again you often call years 11 and 12 college right?) as i'm from Australia where we do nothing like that, most schools just go straight from middle to senior levels with no distinction or fuss and its often at the same school. It seems a bit odd to celebrate graduating from middle school as it doesn't really mean anything right, is there some kind of actual diploma you recieve from merely completing middle school? You're only 15 or so and it just seems weird.

So is middle school graduation an actual, serious thing? Did you celebrate it?

Thought I agree it's crazy I'll explain it to you. Usually we go from Kindergarten to 6th grade at one school, then 7th grade to 8th grade in a different school. Then sometimes when you graduate 8th grade you have a ceremony or what ever. My school isn't THAT retarded so when I went past 8th grade we didn't do anything of the sort. Either way then when we go to 9-12th grade we call it high school and when you graduate that we have a huge ceremony. Hope that helps. Though it will never help as to why people think an 8th grade graduation is needed.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

When I was in Middle School there wasn't a Middle School graduation...then again, this was back in 2002 so things have probably changed a bit. The thing is, there was a graduation thing when I got out of Elementary School in 99. Strange and pointless.

 

[funguy2121]

So i was watching an episode of Modern Family where one of the children was graduating, which confused me as i thought she was still in what you would call middle school. However it turns out (in the show and i did a little googling) that 'graduation' from middle school is an actual thing.

I could not believe that graduation from middle school is a serious thing. Maybe its just culture shock, like 'sophomores' and 'freshmen' (still not entirely sure what those are, then again you often call years 11 and 12 college right?) as i'm from Australia where we do nothing like that, most schools just go straight from middle to senior levels with no distinction or fuss and its often at the same school. It seems a bit odd to celebrate graduating from middle school as it doesn't really mean anything right, is there some kind of actual diploma you recieve from merely completing middle school? You're only 15 or so and it just seems weird.

So is middle school graduation an actual, serious thing? Did you celebrate it?

Clarity. Middle School usually consists of grades 7 and 8. High school is 9-12. After graduating from High School/grade 12, a person may or may not go on to college. In the States, we don't have anything like "senior levels" or "8 levels."

Middle school graduation is not considered nearly the same thing as high school graduation. However, just having gotten through the living nightmare that is middle school in the United States is an achievement, and I wouldn't shit on someone for celebrating exiting Hell and entering high school, which is immeasurably better until one reaches the maturity level wherein one gets tired of it.

 

[marche45]

My middle school was from grade 5-8(weird i know) and the graduation was actually better then most high school graduations,and yes we did get a diploma.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I had to go to a graduation in 8th grade. I begged my parents to let me skip, but they wouldn't hear of it. It's so stupid, considering it is illegal to drop out of school before you're 16. It's literally forced upon you. You can't not graduate from the 8th grade. The faculty at my junior high school (what it is usually called in America) were colossal assholes and "rehearsals" for this damn thing took four hours. And we had to do it at a local university, not in the freaking gymnasium like we did in regular high school (which by the way, practice lasted 20 minutes). High school graduation actually counts for something, but middle school graduation is a waste of time. I was also forced to attend my community college graduation, too. I finally put my foot down on University graduation and didn't go, partly because it didn't even take place until 8 months after I was done with school.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Oh yea, in Australia we have our school certificate exams, in year 10 after which you can leave school. (The the HSC in year 12 which is you finishing school and will admit you to university) But it's not a big thing and becoming as Bloodfeat said increasingly redundant. We make no big deal out of it.

The American education system and its conventions baffle me sometimes.

The American school system is flawed. It baffles everyone.

 

[Kuroneko97]

When I graduated from middle school., they had a graduation. Dressed up nice and pretty. Then flipped off all my oh so annoying classmates and left right after the ceremony.

God, I couldn't stand that school...

 

[Scott Beaulieu]

We had it at my middle school, which was a joke only due to the fact that we just sat there for an hour, listened to an old man talk while I was playing GBC, and the high school was literally right next door.