My daughter reminded me the other day that I didn't buy her a gift when she graduated from high school. Instead, her mother and I rented her a U-Haul and moved her to Nanaimo. It seemed like a pretty generous gesture; by the time I paid the rental, gas and ferry, I was probably in for over $350.
Of course, she didn't see it that way. She told me about her friends who received trips, jewelry and even cars when they graduated from high school. That's a little excessive, I thought then (and still do), and I repeated to her my contention that high school graduation is really not much of an achievement - and I have statistics to back up my claim.
In B.C., about 80 per cent of students who enter Grade 8 will graduate or complete high school in six years. The numbers for those in Grade 12 are even better: fully 95 per cent of those eligible for graduation do so.
In fact, I think that it's more difficult not to graduate than it is to graduate from a high school in B.C., and I told my daughter that people who deserve gifts are those who find a way not to graduate. Statistically that's a much more significant feat.
Schools are set up for success (at least in the narrow way we define success in education). Anyone who wants to graduate and is willing to jump through the hoops will graduate. Teachers work incredibly hard to try to help students navigate a way through the system. Those who struggle in course work can always find help or have adaptations made for them. The cracks are pretty narrow and it's difficult to fall through. Not that some people don't, however.
I was making this argument to my Grade 12 class the other day and they were pretty miffed. It seems that my mocking their practice hair-appointments and their $300 dresses touched a nerve.
"This is such an achievement for us," they complained. "It's the most important day of our lives!"
Of course it's not, but they're just too young to know it. When they begin their careers, when they get married, when they have their children or even when they buy their first home, they'll realize that high school graduation really is just one of many transitions. Why it's important is not for what they've achieved but rather for all they still have to do, for the potential that they have.
Tonight (May 27), the students at Howe Sound Secondary celebrate their graduation. We call it a "commencement" ceremony not because it marks an end, but rather because it signals a beginning.
These "kids" are moving away from the safety of teachers who ask why assignments aren't completed and what can be done to help; they're often moving away from parents who make sure that lunches are made and laundry is done. They're making their way into adulthood and that's why graduation is important.
Some of them will get new cars and jewelry. Others may simply see that U-Haul sitting in the driveway one August morning. None of that is important as long as they look back years from now and realize that this has just been one small step on a much bigger journey.
