No, Mom, You Can't Come

out in galesburg, illinois, students and parents signed a contract. not to reduce littering or to recycle more, but to make promise that parents would behave appropriately during their children's graduations. it seems in 2005 some parents came armed as though they were going to a football game - horns and goodness knows what else. the school had to put its foot down.

so this was the solution - if a student's family made too much noise (as determined by the principal) said student would not receive his/her diploma. apparently five families behaved badly. although some claimed that breachers of the contract were racially diverse, they must have been wrong because the five who did not receive a diploma were all black.

one student cried foul - i mean what if there are folk out there that don't like you so much, they could stand up and create a commotion. but we know that no one is that mean. the thought is preposterous.

but all is not lost. there is still a way for students from noisy families to get their diploma. a way to make up for your misbehavin' parents' "hooting and dancing". eight hours of community service. no, silly, not them; you.

or you could just ask them to skip it. promise to give them each a dvd of the ceremony and they can hoot and dance as much as they like... at home.