When families are preparing to attend their child's graduation ceremony, choir concert, or some other school program, many parents will brace themselves for the long hours and awkward moments.
But if the families at TikToker @angelicapueblas1's school had known what was coming, they probably would have preferred all of those things over what they got at their young students' school graduation.
At this particular school, the rule was simple: a student's name would be called, they'd walk across the stage, and the crowd collectively was allowed to elicit one unison clap for the student.
The mom filming attempted to clap a few extra times for some of the students, and one family gave a solitary "Whoo!" while clapping, but the crowd otherwise listened to the instructions.
This gave the ceremony a cold and authoritarian vibe with weird pauses in between student's names being called, rather than the celebration of graduation and achievement that parents usually hope for.
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were perplexed, feeling like this killed the vibe of the celebration.
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Others felt that they would laugh uncontrollably from sheer awkwardness.
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A few questioned why so many adults were following such a questionable rule.
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To this, the mom stated that she had even tried to break the pattern by adding in a few extra claps here and there, but none of the other parents followed her.
However, a few TikTokers pointed out that the one-clap applause might serve a practical purpose.
On the one hand, it would save time to hear one clap, rather than waiting for a round of applause to end before moving on to the next student.
But more than likely, it had to do with social support, since there will always be some students present who either do not have any family or friends there to support them, or very few compared to other students in their class. By only allowing for one clap each, it offers the illusion of equality across the graduating class.
@angelicapueblas1/TikTok
@angelicapueblas1/TikTok
@angelicapueblas1/TikTok
@angelicapueblas1/TikTok
More than likely, this style of ceremony was performed so that all of the children would receive equal attention.
That said, the flow of the ceremony was questionable at best, and the vibe felt overly strict rather than fun and celebratory.
Perhaps next time, applause for the students could be held until the end, to save time and attention, but to allow all of the families to be as loud and celebratory as they wanted to be.
