Students prevented from walking at graduation due to "prank"

[Greenday]

Hm, we had graduation at 8th grade (Which that school had done before my Dad graduated there in 1972) then graduation after high school and graduation after my BS was done.

[Blue Ginger]

We only have primary school (finishes at grade 6 so 11/12 years old) and high school graduation. Our school year ends just before christmas, so most kinders just have a party or food for the kids, with or without Santa appearing. Primary schools will usually have an end of year celebration for the grade six kids. Sometimes it will be a whole school assembly during normal hours or an evening event for parents and families.

High Schools vary with what they do. Mine was a formal evening with a sit down dinner, speech from the principal and head teachers and then getting a blank scroll as we got called to walk across the dance floor.

In Oz, we have gotten better at teaching more of our history in the last decade or so, especially regarding war time events. I am probably a bit of an outlier from my generation though because my dad was just young enough to miss the draft, but some of his friends weren't as lucky. We also had a neighbour that was suffering from PTSD for a big number of years after Vietnam.
But I will never forget a teacher I had, who was born around the end of the Vietnam war, that told me that Agent Orange was not used and didn't exist. And this was a history teacher that was in charge of teaching history from 1950 to present. So guess what my next assignment was about? And guess who interviewed a number of vets that included one who was happy to talk to my class?

ANZAC Day is becoming bigger each year. We have a public holiday for it and pretty much everything is shut before 12pm so people can go to the dawn service. Pubs and RSLs (Returned Services League) are opened early to serve those that were at the dawn service. We have marches/parades at most of the big memorials in cities and country towns.

We also have have services and marches on November 11. Most businesses will have the 1 minute silence at 11am and schools will have assembly that includes the silence.

The last few years there has also been more happening to remember the Vietnam Vets including memorial services on the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. There is also a parade at most of the larger war memorials.

[Aragarthiel]

Re: Vietnam War- I was actually never taught anything about it except that the US "lost". Never taught dates, protests, or anything, and I'm in my 20s. The only wars we were really taught about were the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and both World Wars. I remember covering a bit of the Mexican-American War in high school, but that's it.

As for graduations, when I lived in Arizona you only graduated from kindergarten and high school. Here in Georgia, they have graduations for Pre-K, kindergarten, 5th grade (elementary school), 8th grade (middle school), and high school. It seems so excessive to me.

[Tanasi]

Not bragging (ok a little) just a statement of facts. My direct linage all of my grandfathers have fought in every war the US and pre-US has been in. Before the French/Indian war they were engaged in fights against the Natives. My Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather fought in the American Revolution and many battles against the Natives, his sons Natives as well and War of 1812 and was at New Orleans with his God-Father Gen. Andrew Jackson (later president), his sons the Texan war of Independence with his God-father Gen. Sam Houston and American/Mexican War, his sons Mr. Lincoln's war and some early western Native wars, his sons Spanish/American war and WWI, his sons WWII and my Dad also serving in Korea and Viet Nam (Dad and his brother were in the Navy), I served in Viet Nam, Desert Storm, Grenada and Panama. My brothers in Afghanistan and Iraq. My oldest daughter in Afghanistan and is still in the Army Reserves, and my oldest son is currently a US Marine but hasn't deployed and I hope he doesn't.

We've been invited to seemingly countless "graduations" for nieces, nephews and cousins. I went to a lot until I just got tired and then elected to help put on a wholly encompassing graduation party/cook-out. The party was more work but at least I was at home and not in those big crowds.

[Greenday]

Re: Vietnam War- I was actually never taught anything about it except that the US "lost". Never taught dates, protests, or anything, and I'm in my 20s. The only wars we were really taught about were the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and both World Wars. I remember covering a bit of the Mexican-American War in high school, but that's it.

As for graduations, when I lived in Arizona you only graduated from kindergarten and high school. Here in Georgia, they have graduations for Pre-K, kindergarten, 5th grade (elementary school), 8th grade (middle school), and high school. It seems so excessive to me.

Yea, for some reason, history was the same every single year. America discovered up to the end of WW2. And I graduated high school in 2006 so it's not like the Korean War or Vietnam War were too recent to be taught.

[Tanasi]

Yea, for some reason, history was the same every single year. America discovered up to the end of WW2. And I graduated high school in 2006 so it's not like the Korean War or Vietnam War were too recent to be taught.

My kids were also taught about Korea and RVN but they didn't go to public school. A friend that's a history teacher has told me that they're only allowed to teach what is "approved" by the state and US Dept of Ed. She said this is boiled down to what the NEA wants. Is this true??? I don't know. I suspect what's being taught has more to do with what's on the test than not. I'm thankful my kids didn't/don't have that hanging over their heads. Three of my grand-kids start kindergarten this fall at the same school their mommas attended, maybe one day we'll get the third generation started there.

[TheHuckster]

Yea, for some reason, history was the same every single year. America discovered up to the end of WW2. And I graduated high school in 2006 so it's not like the Korean War or Vietnam War were too recent to be taught.

Same here. When I went to college, I chose a 20th century American history class as a gen-ed, which was interesting. The textbook (published in 2003) went as far up as the start of Gulf War II, literally 6 months prior to my class. The lecture only went up to the 1980s, though.

I don't know... maybe the teachers thought since the students' parents lived through that time, they'd teach it to them? Or maybe teachers felt self-conscious about teaching "history" that they themselves lived through?