Graduations: A Waste Of Money

Tis the season for ball gowns, tuxedos, fancy hairstyles and gorgeous shoes…..no, its not wedding season….its graduation time; a grand affair for students, a burn in parents pocket and a fund-raising event for schools. I’m burdened by the ridiculous cost that comes with making the transition from one phase of the educational ladder to the next. Nowadays, with the exorbitant fees that are charged, it appears that graduation is an institution’s main fund-raising event. After the fanfare, there’s hardly anything tangible to show for the money spent and we’re left to wonder where does the money go.

Case in point; I paid $10,000 for my high school graduation which was inclusive of the school-leaving certificate, gown rental & corsage. Not even a bottle of water to cool down the graduates from the heat that swept through the pews of St. Marks Anglican Church on the afternoon of June 15, 2008. We all had to pay for our souvenirs, package pictures and yearbook separately. Thanks to Wiles Photo Studio, the photos were of poor quality. Those who were banned from graduation had to pay half the amount in order to receive their certificates and pictures. Six years later, many students haven’t received these.

Many parents who could hardly feed their children during the school year are now faced with these ridiculous graduation fees. Does administration think of single parents with more than one child in school before deciding on these graduation rates? Do they not think about the money parents will have to find to send these children to another school once they’ve graduated?

I strongly suggest that parents boycott these graduation ceremonies which to me makes no sense. Take the child(ren) out for a meal and buy them a congratulatory gift and refrain from paying these exorbitant graduation fees for all sorts of fanfare.

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.