Mom arrested at graduation

Mom arrested at graduation,Police in South Carolina arrested a mother while she was attending her daughter's high school graduation (why?). According to officers, the woman was warned before they handcuffed and escorted her out (where did they take her?). Several hours later, she was released after posting a $225 bond Beach balls and bullhorns are commonly banned from graduation ceremonies, but some schools also want to silence the screaming — going so far as to have overzealous audience members arrested.

That’s what reportedly happened to South Carolina mom Shannon Cooper, who was accused of whooping so loudly during her daughter’s high school graduation Saturday night that cops charged her with disorderly conduct and placed her in a detention center.

“Are ya’ll serious? Are ya’ll for real? I mean, that’s what I’m thinking in my mind,” Cooper told WPDE NewsChannel 15 in Myrtle Beach. “I didn’t say anything. I was just like OK, I can’t fight the law. “

Cooper said she didn’t act any differently than other families when their children’s names were called during the South Florence High School ceremony.

Her daughter, Iesha, told WPDE she didn’t realize her mother was being arrested until her friends told her.

“They’re locking your momma up for cheering — and I was like that isn’t right because other people was cheering and they didn’t lock them up,” Iesha told the TV station.

Police reportedly warned parents that screaming would result in expulsion from the Florence Civic Center. Those who became disorderly as they were shown the exit were also arrested, officials said.

That allegedly included Cooper, who was placed in a police van and then taken to a detention center. She was there for several hours before posting a $225 bond, according to WPDE.

“Yesterday can’t be replaced... My mama went to jail on my graduation day,” Iesha Cooper, 18, told the station.

It wasn’t jail but community service that student Anthony Cornist was reportedly handed after his graduation from Mt. Healthy Junior/Senior High School in Ohio. His family and supporters gave him such a rowdy reception that school officials denied him his diploma and told him he will have to perform 20 hours of community service before he can graduate, according to ABC 9 in Cincinnati.

“I will be holding your diploma in the main office due to the excessive cheering your guests displayed during the roll call,” principal Marlon Styles Jr. wrote to Cornist in a letter obtained by ABC 9.

While the school didn’t repsond to requests for comment, the senior said Monday he personally “did nothing wrong.”

The school is allowing Cornist to split the community service with his family, but his mother told ABC 9 the punishment is “ludicrous” and none of them would be doing it.
Your child is graduating from high school and we know that you are sooooooo excited, moms! Sooooooo incredibly excited that you wanna whoop and holla. You want to scream it from the rooftops. My kid graduated from high school! My kid  is going to college! My kid has a future! Whoop, whoop, whoooooooop! Did you ever think that this is, I don't know, kind of disrespectful and annoying? No, of course you didn't. Because it's all about YOUR KID. Whoooooooop! Well, one mother in South Carolinalearned the hard way about being too loud at graduation. Her whooping and holleringgot her arrested.

Shannon Cooper was escorted out of her daughter's high school graduation, placed under arrest for disorderly conduct, and put in a detention center. I'm not sure what a detention center is, but it doesn't sound like the way a mom wants to celebrate her daughter's graduation.

Shannon reportedly told a local news station:

Are y'all serious? Are y'all for real? I mean, that’s what I’m thinking in my mind. I didn’t say anything. I was just like okay, I can’t fight the law.

Apparently excess cheering had gotten to be such a problem at graduations that police had warned parents beforehand that there would be a "zero tolerance" policy. Those cheering too loudly would be expelled from the ceremony and even arrested if need be.

I completely understand the bursting pride that must come with seeing your child graduate from high school. But other parents want to hear their child's name called too. And imagine you are a child who follows a kid who had 50 people whooping and screaming -- and you've got one person politely clapping. Or nothing. Not all kids have big families, or even ONE parent to watch them graduate.

The time for whooping and hollering can be after the ceremony at a private celebration. Should parents be ARRESTED for this activity? No. An arrest record is serious business and can disrupt finding employment. Should a parent miss her child's graduation because she can't control herself? Yep.