Last night was the local high school commencement, and I was in attendance at the invitation of the parents of two of the graduates. To anyone who was paying attention to the nearly hour-long program of speeches and performances that preceded the awarding of diplomas, on display was a dizzying spectacle of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, the event trumpeted the kind of change and creativity that we all associate with youth and youth culture. But change was ruled by convention, and I came away slightly worried.
A quick scan of the nearly 600 graduates’ names showed “Lopez” outnumbering “Smith” five to two. Names like “Rambhatla” and “Matzavinos” were common. The diversity of the class didn’t go unnoticed by the family seated behind me. They had a snicker and snide comment for each name that didn’t rhyme with “Anderson.” The makeup of the class was a telling indicator of the multicultural reality that these graduates have grown up with. It was beautiful.
[sidenote: mainline churchgoers still needing convincing that the culture has left them behind would do well to note that only three of the over 500 graduates belong to the local Presbyterian church.]
Yet for all that diversity, the speeches and songs proclaimed a surprising uniformity and conservatism. More than one student speaker rehearsed for their peers a pre-graduation conflict with school administrators who had proposed changes to the program. “We made our voices heard,” they proclaimed, “To keep graduation the way it’s always been!”
A defiant teen defense of . . . tradition.
And the music? Most of it would have fit nicely into my high school graduation. In 1994. I’m talkin’ “Landslide,” and “For Good” (sung to a tape). The most contemporary performance was of Adele’s “Hometown Glory” (again to a tape), and even that graduate couldn’t muster enough adolescent rebellion to sing the single obscenity in the lyrics.
Most telling was a performance of Soulpancake favorite Casey Abrams’ “Simple Life,” a song that pronounces, “Don’t need no TV/ I don’t need no phone/Don’t need a speedy car to get me home/Don’t need no nothing/All I need is time for the simple life.”
Now, am I encouraged by young peoples’ embrace of simplicity and tradition? Absolutely. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if such an embrace isn’t the most meaningful form youth rebellion can take these days.
Yet if graduation is an indicator of a generation’s ethos, this one seems more suited to the PTA than the Occupy Movement. That may well be a good thing. It’s just not what I expected. It reminded me yet again of how much I have to learn about the young people in my community.
YoRocko! 