Parents Ruin Gradutaion for Sixth Graders


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Tassels & tussles

at Queens graduation

By JONATHAN LEMIRE,

WARREN WOODBERRY JR.

and JOE WILLIAMS

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, June 25th, 2005

A graduation ceremony for sixth-graders in Queens erupted into chaos yesterday when parents fought over seats - striking a 7-year-old girl and bringing students to tears.

"Move! Move!" Moises Morales shouted at another parent just as his daughter and her 61 classmates at Public School 201 stood to sing "Friends Forever," witnesses said. "I said move!" Morales, 43, yelled again near the back of the crowded auditorium on 155th St. in Flushing, witnesses said.

Morales and his pregnant wife arrived late to the morning ceremony and could not find seats, leading him to berate a woman who apparently was saving several chairs for family and friends, witnesses said.

The shouting quickly turned to shoving, and Morales hurled a bag at the woman, missing her and hitting the 7-year-old girl, police said.

As the girl sobbed, Morales ripped a video camera from the woman's arms and broke it, police and witnesses said.

"Why would you fight during graduation?" asked 12-year-old Jayquan Booker, who got his diploma amid the mayhem.

Morales and his alleged victim were escorted out of the auditorium by security as other parents clapped in approval.

"All eyes turned on him and everyone forgot about the graduation," PTA President Rasheedah Jennings said.

Morales was charged with criminal mischief, assault and reckless endangerment, police said. "It was unfortunate that it had to happen during such an important occasion, but it was addressed quickly by our staff and the kids did wonderfully," said Principal Veronica Yurcik.

While Morales was waiting to be arraigned last night, his sister-in-law Andrea Vasquez, 17, blamed the alleged victim. "They asked her nicely, but she wouldn't let them sit down," Vasquez said.

Source

I'm sure this could have been resolved civilly rather than turning what should have been a memorable event in the kids' lives into a sideshow. And a guy threatening and harassing a woman, wow must make you a BIG man. I understand the whole wanting to get a seat for your pregnant wife but that's not the way to do. And yeah blaming the lady becuase your brother-in-law is apparently a raging maniac, class act.

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heh, i think its a bit of an overkill having a full blown ceremony when a child leaves 6th grade.

Well thats coming from the point of view of myself who is in the UK, whereby

(if 6th grade is the same as the equivelent year6 here, the kid is like 11 or 12 if i remember myself right:P)

6th and 7th are the same really anyways, just that 6th is part of "primary school" as we call it and 7th is part of "secondary" or "high" school.

but the learning is pretty much the same.

Year 9 is where you start learning the stuff you will need for your big courses, year 10 they start and year 11 they finish:/

edit: actually i remember it being quite fun:P we thought we had grown up and it was like a major jump. when infact it was not. ok so i guess its alright then...

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Yeah I'd actually tend to agree that 6th grade graduation is a bit odd. Normally here in NY kids change schools after 5th and go from elementary school to junior high school, though a few go up to 6th. But, still I mean the point is the asinine behavior of the so-called grownups.

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sad, but this has happened at several graduations i've been to as well. it is annoying when the graduation is already starting, and you have someone saving like 5 seats or more....and you have people who are actually there, and need seats too.

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I've had 3 graduations (that I can remeber) grade 8, 12 and 13 (OAC), no one in the audience ever caused a single problem at any of them....these people are just retarted and can't be civil

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sad, but this has happened at several graduations i've been to as well.? it is annoying when the graduation is already starting, and you have someone saving like 5 seats or more....and you have people who are actually there, and need seats too.

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That's why they should offer tickets beforehand and keep it to a certain max number depending on the size of the hall it's being held in. I mean plenty of schools do it that way and it works. I don't know why everyone doesn't turn to a similar method.

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Yeah I'd actually tend to agree that 6th grade graduation is a bit odd. Normally here in NY kids change schools after 5th and go from elementary school to junior high school, though a few go up to 6th. But, still I mean the point is the asinine behavior of the so-called grownups.

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I'll also chirp in that 6th grade graduation is a bit odd. Especially if parents are buying fancy dresses and attending an evening formal event.

Some schools here do a 6th grade graduation but it is during the school day on one of the last days of schools. Parents are invited but not expected and there are some light refreshments in the library. All in all, it's pretty informal. A few short speeches to recognize excellence or improvement.

Getting back to the real issue. Yea, that's a pretty bad example to set. I've attended several events at my son's school where I have needed to stand and while I probably would ask to get a single seat if my wife was pregnant, I obviously would not display this type of behaviour. I think many people would be quick to donate their seat for a obviously pregnant woman anyway so it would not be a problem.

Parents do need to set positive examples.

sad, but this has happened at several graduations i've been to as well.  it is annoying when the graduation is already starting, and you have someone saving like 5 seats or more....and you have people who are actually there, and need seats too.

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Can't people stand at the back?

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It really depends though because I graduated in 6th grade and went to middle school and I live in New York. If you live in New York you would know that Queens, Brooklyn, and Bronx are all areas that are chaotic in that if you ever go there you would probably never make it back but it is sad that this is the example that these parents are setting for their kids.

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If you live in New York you would know that Queens, Brooklyn, and Bronx are all areas that are chaotic in that if you ever go there you would probably never make it back

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Riiiiiiiight. Let's not completely write off a few boroughs because of some tough neighborhoods in them.

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wow parents ruin kids sports and now graduation.

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Yeah that came to my mind too. The crazy parent syndrome seems to be spreading. And (slightly off topic) I read in this weeks Sports Illustrated that Bravo is having a reality show where they follow five kids being pushed by their parents in various sports. It's called Sports Kids Moms & Dads. Hopefully people will see the adverse affects the idiots who signed up for it have on their kids and will take a look in the mirror. As Frnak Defor says in the article (couldn't find an online version):

It's an absolutely compelling series, all the more so because we are so repelled by the parents and touched by the children, these surrogates for their parents' delusion.
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