Somebody has to pay the piper for undisciplined poorly socialized students. I am glad that the school took this step. It is less painful than the hard lessons that these unruly "Mamma's Darlings" will face in the real world.

This is absolute crap. The administration can hardly prove it was a majority of students - based on this article it is stating some. How would you people feel if the police knew a robber was in your community and arrested the whole community to sully your names? What the devil is this teaching anyone. In the real world if you don't do your job and don't adhere to the rules of the job or your binding contract, you get fired. If someone else gets fired unlawfully, if a union is in place they protest and where necessary if a lawyer or arbitrator needs to step in they do and a severance package is provided accordingly if the firm is at fault.

Banker - what are you saying?

My argument exactly. Spot on

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2013…

This is absolute crap. The administration can hardly prove it was a majority of students - based on this article it is stating some. How would you people feel if the police knew a robber was in your community and arrested the whole community to sully your names? What the devil is this teaching anyone. In the real world if you don't do your job and don't adhere to the rules of the job or your binding contract, you get fired. If someone else gets fired unlawfully, if a union is in place they protest and where necessary if a lawyer or arbitrator needs to step in they do and a severance package is provided accordingly if the firm is at fault.

Banker -what are you saying?

In the real world, if you know of a crime and do not report it, you go to jail. WAKE UP!! I would hope that the community would tell the police who the robber was. These students knew who their fellow perpetrators were but decided to cover up for them and them come cry later.

I love how some of you can congratulate the school for cancelling graduation for maybe a moment of absent mindedness by a group of teenage Bahamians. The same Bahamian students that spent and worked hard for 12years or more if they went to kindergarten and/or had learning problems to obtain this diploma. These are the same young Bahamians who you would criticize the parents, the government and themselves about if they had not stuck out those 12+ years and ended up on the streets doing who knows what. The diploma is only half of the ending to this leg of their scholastic journey, the graduation ceremony is the other. By taking that away from them what message do you send them? "Oh because you had a momentary lapse of judgement as is common with someone your age we have decided to cancel your graduation ceremony. You know the ceremony we hold so you can stand before your friends and family and say 'look at me! I have successfully managed to get this far with your support. Thank you!'"

If the importance of a graduation ceremony is lost on you and you think the many should be punished for the few then you honestly should do some soul searching.

- Someone who has graduated with a small minority of students who weren't allowed to attend the ceremony due to SEVERE violations of the scholastic contract of the school and was not punished along with them.

In full agreement. This is a fool's game. Luckily, the generation to come is always smarter than the present: there is no stopping the determination and progress of the youth. Shame on the bishop and sjc

That is indeed the problem, they believe they're smarter than everyone else, they have nothing to learn from an older generation. We will live in utter chaos until we accept that rules are created for *everybody*

2 incidents at 2 schools in the country. Very strange.

Different argument thisisours. The question on law and order, I fully support. On the question about unfairness let be clear: those students not involved in the incident are being wrongly and unjustly punished. Further, to accept the stand that All should be punished puts an asterisk to each of their diploma and really hurts their academic future. How dare one man is allowed to condemn the whole lot without indiscriminate cause, and we sit down in collective agreement over the daunting future for these student. Absolutely unjust

I didn't hear anyone say they wouldn't get a diploma or that the *mark of Cain* would be placed on their diploma, I understand that there will just be no "grand celebration" around the diploma giving...

I think there is an area set aside for assessment for Conduct/Behavior on one's diploma (at least it was on my sjc diploma) and that is based on all of your activities positive or negative at school

And did he say everyone would get an unfavourable assessment? Or did he say there will be no *grand celebration*?

Then that begs the question doesn't it?

No it doesn't, how do you know this incident had any effect on their overall *conduct* assessment? As far as I can see it determined whether or not their was a big splash. Their diplomas were more than likely already prepared and signed off

if we go by that every student and thier parents will swear they weren,t involved ,,i commend the school ,its time for accountability in this country

I really think the parents missed the boat in this instance. They have a right to fight for whichever cause they believe in, **but** this could have been used as an important teaching lesson. What is the end goal for these kids? To go on to receive a higher education, to start a successful career, to be a well rounded adult, to start a family? Where will "I didn't get to go to the prom and wear the sexiest dress/most unique tuxedo I could imagine", fit in that **end** goal? In the next 6wks they will be at COB with the same friends, off to college or entering the work force to meet new friends and facing a more important passing out ceremony. They are babies, they are promised another 40yrs on this earth, there will be many times in their lives when they will face disappointment, times when they will not be given the prize even though they deserve it. At each of those pivotal moments they will need to put their present circumstance in perspective of their **end** goal, that is how they will determine which battles are worth fighting. If the parents truly believe that this ceremony/prom is a determining battle in the successful acheivement of their child's **end** goal, then I have nothing else to say, other than good luck, for the community's sake, please make sure you are releasing an **adult in training** to the Bahamas and the rest of the world.

God help us all. We need it. The "innocent" students fully knew which of their peers were involved in the incidences but they refused to identify the guilty to the school administrators. Consider the lesson in that. What happens to a nation who people see and know wrong but refuse to something about it because without their evidence, the authorities have no proof. .......and we congratulate and celebrate this... and call it determination and vision. A sad reality of our society.

when a man that was principal says "he could not be drunk enough or high enough to cancel graduation" then goes on the say he was mindful of who paid his salary the 2000 parents ,that says it all ,,we all shout about crime ,kids w/ no respect etc ,,then when punishment is metted out we all wail 'its too harsh "'

That former principal deserves to get slapped and kicked in his butt for such a stupid, self-serving, self-promoting statement. Now I see how and when the degradation of students' character and behaviour began.... under his leadership as principal. Thank God he's out of the system now and not out destroying the morals of more young people due to his slack, incompetent leadership.