I can’t stop thinking about an article I read during the height of tassel-and-mortarboard season. In the June 22 New York Times, Jan Hoffman looked at the implications of a relatively new phenomenon being fueled by the whole “my kid’s self-esteem come hell or high water” movement: how middle school/8th grade graduation festivities are becoming more and more elaborate, mimicking high school graduations with caps and gowns, proms, limos, valedictorians, etc. (I mean, what’s left when you finish high school, let alone college and beyond?)

As with any parenting/education issue, there are, but of course, two schools of thought on this one: for and against. Both camps agree that recognizing academic achievement is key—and at least as important as the big to-do we make over athletics with dinners, MVP’s, awards, local newspaper articles, etc. But while one camp weighs in with the belief that such recognition encourages students to continue their education, the other advances the theory that such overly elaborate hoopla might actually discourage some students from continuing their formal schooling—in effect sending the message that it’s okay to quit school after 8th grade.

Personally, I think the whole graduation thing—starting in Pre-K and continuing on ad infinitum, has gotten way out of control. I do feel comfortable with a happy medium of sorts: having a low-key, sans cap-and-gown  “moving up” assembly—but with a definite ix-nay to all the rest of the over-the-top hoopla.

So which camp are you in on this?