I applaud Syracuse High School's choice to ban leis and other additional ornamentation at its graduation ceremonies. At our recent high school graduation, we were distracted by the many flower, money and candy-bar leis that were draped around so many of the graduates. Sadly, for many of the students who were entitled to wear honor cords and the National Honor Society collar, due to a rigorous academic regimen, those were overshadowed by these ornamentations. A high school graduation is a celebration of the culmination of one's studies, not a celebration of one's cultural heritage or other display for attention.
While we're at it, let's also ban cowbells, horns and other inappropriate noises that come from the audience — it focuses the attention on the noisemakers instead of the graduates.
Laurel Zortman
Cedar City