High school seniors take to social media to protest virtual graduation

Ciana Quintero
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Pines Boulevard
4 p.m. Tuesday, May 5


High school seniors take to social media to protest virtual graduation

Seniors across the United States are facing the disappointing news of the cancellation of graduations.

On April 22, Broward County Public School Superintendent Robert W. Runcie announced his decision to hold virtual graduation ceremonies for all high schools between June 15 and June 28. On May 1 the school district released the ceremony schedule.

“Our goal is to use technology to make your graduation personal and memorable,” Runcie said in his letter to the class of 2020.

However, the news was not taken well by seniors, as shortly following the announcement, my feed on Instagram was bombarded with posts from the senior class protesting the ceremony. They demanded they were deserving of a traditional graduation, seeing as all their senior activities were canceled, and this was the final step to their years of schooling.

Throughout the month, high schools will be distributing regalia, including gowns, cords and medallions.

To support their seniors during this time, Somerset Academy Chapel Trail in Pembroke Pines has a caravan outside of seniors’ houses with a line of decorated cars filled with the school’s faculty.

Other school districts have also found many ways to recognize their seniors, including taking to social media to commemorate their seniors’ accomplishments, creating virtual yearbooks for students to sign, and displaying the names and faces of their seniors on banners around their town.

I know that senior year is the moment students look forward to through all years of schooling, so I could only imagine the frustration of having that all taken away. Unfortunately, I don’t think there will be any “normal” graduations after Covid-19.

However, I did see other states applying social distancing to their ceremonies by breaking up the class into smaller groups or having cars line up to receive their diploma. If the school district did

not want to apply these rules, I think postponing the ceremony till next school year would have been a better option.

Despite how unfortunate this event is, my support goes out to the seniors affected by this. My best wishes go to them as they move on to the next stepping stone in their lives.


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