High School Girl Denied Diploma For Dancing Across Graduation Stage
To say this is eye-rolling is an understatement. A girl in Pennsylvania was denied her high school diploma because she danced across her graduation stage. O-M-G. This kind of thing makes me nuts.
Look, on one hand I get the celebration rule at graduations. I understand that excessive cheering/airhorn blowing/whatever for one graduate, could drown out the announcement of another. Each graduate and his/her family deserve that moment. That being said, what happened to Hafsah Abdur-Rahman at her graduation from The Philadelphia High School For Girls was as unnecessary as it was humiliating.
In the video below, you can see Abdur-Rahman dance across the stage to receive her diploma. Once she arrives at the school principal, she is denied receipt, openly and publicly. The stated rule was families could not cheer or clap when they walk on stage June 9. She said she understood the rules. I guess because the audience laughed at Hafsah, that was deemed a violation of policy.
You’ve got to be kidding me. When school administrators choose moments like this to flex, all they do is make them and their school look immature and ridiculous. Simultaneously, they are robbing students of their earned and deserved moment in the sun that will never happen again.
Abdur-Rahman is quoted by WPVI as saying, “If they thought that I shouldn’t do the Griddy across the stage and the Girl’s High traditions, nobody should have been able to wave or blow kisses or do period signs, because I feel like that’s the same thing,” she said. “So, I just thought it was really unfair.”
She’s right, her school is/was wrong here. Three other girls did not get their diplomas on stage, but all of them did after the ceremony. In an effort (no doubt) to avoid litigation, The School District of Philadelphia issued the following statement: “We apologize to all the families and graduates who were impacted and are further looking into this matter to avoid it happening in the future.”
Too late. Hafsah Abdur-Rahman and all students deserve better. Dancing in joy to receive your high school diploma is not reason for denial of that graduation moment.
List: Top 25 Best High Schools In North Carolina
Choosing the right school for your child can feel like the most important decision in the world. It’s a factor in where you purchase a home. Should you shell out the big bucks for private school education? How can you set your child up for success? So many parents stress about these decisions for years and years. Good thing Niche.com is here to help with rankings of schools and universities across the country. They recently released their 2023 rankings of schools. This includes K-12 as well as higher education. You can play around with the filters and view the rankings based on a variety of factors. One of the more intriguing, and important levels of schooling is high school. Preparing for college, gaining admission to the best colleges, and even getting credit hours under your belt is so important. So what are the best high schools in North Carolina? Let’s find out.
For this list, we are looking at both public and private schools. The good news the number one spot on this list is a public school. Though it’s a specialized one. The rest of the is mainly private schools (and multiple in Charlotte!) with a couple of public schools mixed in. You also will see two Charlotte area public schools in the Top 25. But where did these rankings come from you may ask? According to Niche:
The 2023 Best High Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Ranking factors include state test scores, student-teacher ratio, student diversity, teacher quality, grade school ratings, and the overall quality of the school district. Read more on how this ranking was calculated.
If you’re struggling with where to send your child to school hopefully this list will help you narrow it down. These are the 25 best high schools in North Carolina.
Charlie Nance is the Afternoon Drive co-host (along with his wife) of "The Charlie and Debbie Show" at WSOC, Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple have been with the radio station since 2006. Charlie has won the prestigious CMA (Country Music Association) Award for Radio Personality of the Year and has been a finalist for the Country Radio Hall of Fame four times. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Charlie (along with Debbie) spent more than a decade hosting successful morning radio shows in Greenville, SC; Augusta, Ga; and Birmingham, Al. As a content creator for Country 1037, Charlie writes about dream lottery windfalls, sports, restaurants and bars, and travel experiences in North and South Carolina.
