It’s graduation weekend for many Hawaii high school seniors, who are marking what is often a bittersweet moment: completion of their primary educational credential and a parting from many classmates whose lives are about to diverge.
This emotional mix introduces a sense of both fun and risk, an intoxicating combination that can have a tragic consequence. Graduates go out for one last blast with their friends. Some of them end up driving under the influence of drink or drugs, endangering their own lives and those of others on the road.
Project Graduation was conceived about 20 years ago to address this. For those who don’t know, it’s an all-night event, usually planned by school parents who raise money to cover costs.
Graduates are taken to a venue, or sometimes several, where they can enjoy hired entertainment or various games and activities, celebrating with friends in an alcohol- and drug-free environment.
This alternative enjoyed a period of novelty that is starting to wane. Hawaii schools need a Project Grad 2.0 to freshen up what is still basically a good idea: the creation of at least one night when traffic fatalities including young people is less of a worry.
It’s never been a perfect shield, and across the country reports of students sneaking in items have always been part of the event landscape.
But few would question that, as much as possible, keeping students together on graduation night has yielded a lot of memorable occasions and a boost in public safety.
Any Project Grad event is only as effective as its level of participation. Sometimes it interferes with family plans, and a lot of Hawaii students opt out because their tight-knit clans are clamoring for them to attend home parties.
It can be expensive, especially for large public-school classes where the cost of even modest Project Grad activities add up. It becomes yet another cause for fundraising, and parents can be asked to cover sizable bills for charges that remain. Not everyone can manage that, and it becomes cheaper to simply drop out.
And that can have a snowball effect. The more the event becomes only one among many options, the more it loses its singular attraction as the place to be.
Project Grad is worth saving, but it does need an infusion of new ideas.
Entertainers and other vendors providing activities for the students are in demand — and often booked solid — at this time of year, so new entrepreneurial players would be welcome in this game.
Further, providing donations in kind and providing pro bono services would be an excellent way for the community to contribute.
For businesses looking for ways to help their local schools, this is an easy way to add to the fun of graduation.
Finally, those families that do decide on an independent commencement-night celebration have that freedom, but responsibility comes with it. If they’re not relying on the security of a sanctioned school event, the onus for keeping graduation a safe occasion should fall on them.
It may be the last time they provide that kind of oversight for their children, before launching them into the next phase of their lives.
