'I decided right then that, no matter what, I wasn't caving': Student refuses to do mandatory senior project, school's administration makes it their mission to get student to comply

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 15, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This student is single-handedly tanking their school's project scores, and in typical teenage fashion, they don't care about the project at all. 

By senior year of high school, a lot of students are fully checked out. At that age, you probably have a car, a job, and dreams of life after high school, like attending college or moving out of your parent's place. Senior year rolls around and students find it hard to take it seriously. High school is so close to no longer mattering to you that school administrators need to figure out how to make students behave. And of course, the arrow they love to pull from their quiver is, "We won't let you walk during graduation."

For many high school seniors, walking during graduation is a big deal. Our administration solemnly told my graduating class that the ceremony is not about you as a student, but about your parents, who guided you through your schooling for years, and now want to see you have your moment to shine. That's a great way of guilting teens into doing what you want! But if neither of those threats works, administrators will need to find a new tactic. They found that out the hard way with u/Brandilio, who shared the anecdote to r/MaliciousCompliance. 

Check out their entire story below. Then, read about these moviegoers who broke the rule of silence in movie theaters---but at least they made the entire theater crack up laughing with their jokes and witty comments. 

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  • 01
    Sky - MITTW
    via Pang Yuhao on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - "If you don't do the Senior Project, then you won't walk during graduation." Well okay then. XL OC Back in 2013, I was a senior at a high school I had just transferred to. I had moved earlier in the year because my parent got divorced, and I made the deliberate choice to leave my old high school and move in with my dad, attending a new high school. I won't go into much detail about the why, but it was my decision to leave my mom, my old school, and my home town in the Bay Area, and move i
    via u/Brandilio
  • 03
    Font - would have taken because they all had mandatory summer projects that I wouldn't have been able to do in a week. Additionally, a week into the school year, we were told about this stupid senior project they wanted us to do. In a nutshell, there was some acronym like IMPACT or something, and each letter represented a value of the school. They wanted us to write about how IMPACT had influenced us in our time at the school. We were then told that, should we not do the senior project, we would
    via u/Brandilio
  • 04
    Font - response was that I just "figure something out, or don't walk." Well okay then. I brought it up with my dad, asked weather or not if he gave a hot s I walked for a high school graduation. He did not. So I just figured that I wouldn't do the project. End of story, right? Wrong. Ya see, a few months into this senior project, they did a checkup on every senior. We just lined up in our homeroom to talk to some lady from the principal's office and told her how close we were to being done. When
    via u/Brandilio
  • 05
    Font - "But you won't walk if you don't do it." "Yeah." Then we just sorta stared at each other, and she wrote my name down and shooed me away. I correctly assumed that this would not be the last interaction I had regarding this non-issue. Several weeks later, my suspicions were confirmed when I was pulled out of class and brought into the main office. They ushered me into the vice- principal's personal office, where she made a bit of a show of pulling out some papers. She told me that the meeti
    via u/Brandilio
  • 06
    Font - quickly corrected her, and explained that I very clearly understood what they wanted me to do, but that I thought it was stupid and wasn't going to do it. I also explained that I understood the penalty, and was fine with it. She, like the first lady, seemed confused by this course of action, and just let me leave, since there wasn't really much of a conversation to be had. A few more weeks later, I get pulled out of yet another class for this same thing. Again, I'm brought up to the vice-
    via u/Brandilio
  • 07
    Font - "Well," she continued, "we had a chat with your mother over the phone earlier this week. She told us that she really wants you to walk on your graduation." I was quiet for a moment. "Um... I live with my dad." "Right, but your mom said she'd like to attend the ceremony and see you walk." "I don't think you get it," I stated, "I live with my dad for a reason." If ever there were an expression the perfectly exemplified the dial- up tone, that's the face she made. After she collected herself
    via u/Brandilio
  • 08
    Font - tried to strong-arm me using a parent with whom I was no- contact. I decided right then that, no matter what, I wasn't caving in to their bulls the project, f the school, f the weird tactics they were trying to use. Though, in my anger was also confusion. Why the h did these people care so d much about one guy not doing an optional assignment? Also, I made myself very clear, so was that the end of it? Spoiler: It wasn't. A few more weeks later, I got pulled into the actual principal's off
    via u/Brandilio
  • 09
    Font - "So, I've heard about this whole senior project problem you've had going on. And I get it. Trust me, I really do - you're new here, so our motto hasn't had as much of an impression. So, after talking about it with the folks grading the projects, we think it'd be just fine if you had a modified project. Just do a project on one letter of IMPACT, and you're golden." He gave me a big warm smile. "No." "Sorry?" He asked, still smiling. "I'm not doing it." His smile was slowly fading, "But you
    via u/Brandilio
  • 10
    Font - "Yep." "So what's the issue, exactly?" "You called my mom." His mouth was open like he was going to say something, but I guess nothing came to mind, as we sat in silence for a good twenty seconds - him trying to formulate argument, and me making Jim Halpert face. I told him if that was everything he needed to talk about, I would be heading back to class. He didn't protest, so I just left. It was after this meeting that I eventually got some context. Apparently, California schools will shu
    via u/Brandilio
  • 11
    Font - had ended, and one of his big plans was to leave that high school with 100% participation in the senior projects that would otherwise not affect any final grade... He used the threat of preventing students from walking at graduation to bully everyone into doing the dumb project. ...Almost everyone - I stuck to my guns and refused to do it. And sure enough, after the deadline had passed, they made a big deal about how happy they were that 99.6% of students completed their senior projects,
    via u/Brandilio
  • 12
    Font - me walk, and gave me five tickets for friends and family. I laughed, walked out without the tickets, and didn't attend my own graduation. TL;DR - I was given the choice of option A or option B. I chose option B, the admins regretted giving me the option, and then it got personal. EDIT (12/14): Managed to get ahold of my pops. I asked him if they ever called him, and what he said was;
    via u/Brandilio
  • 13
    Font - "I don't know. Maybe? I feel like I had something prepared for if they did call. You know, I would have told them that your grades were great, you had just transferred from a different school, you didn't know anybody, and that you were just looking to finish up and go to college. But I can't remember if they actually called me and I told them that. I feel like I did, but I'm not sure if I did."
    via u/Brandilio
  • 14
    Font - Hammer Of TheHeretics. There are some people who think everything that happens in high school is massively significant, and others who just want to see the end of the place so a they can get on with life. The former are always deeply confused by the indifference of the latter. 7.7k Brandilio OP Reply Share Personally, I found that the people who were consumed by the culture of high school never really left. Even in college, some people had that high school attitude.
    via u/HammerOfTheHeretics
  • 15
    Font - JillyB3 They seriously crossed the line reaching out to the noncustodial parent. Especially since they had no clue about the s they were stepping in. Your dad should have nailed them to the wall. 2.5k Reply Share Brandilio OP I was pled when it happened. Looking back, it's still ked up, but I can laugh at the fact they thought that would work.
    via u/JillyB3
  • 16
    Font - camarhyn Beautifully done. I only went to my high school graduation to spite the vice principal - she was 110% convinced I wouldn't graduate. When she tried to shake my hand on stage I refused and instead whispered "I told you so" just loud enough so she could hear it. My mom has photos somewhere and I love the look on her face - it's one of those "I would rather be getting a root canal than standing here" faces. She wanted me to fail and harassed me nonstop in high school (to the point w
    via u/camarhyn
  • 17
    Font - RiflemanLax Ugh, I had no interest in walking for either HS or college. Got pressured into it both times. My HS graduation photo has me accepting my diploma with a 'gee thanks, can I go now?' look. My college photos all contain my ex wife. So yeah. I completely understand. 270 Reply Share Brandilio OP Man, I kinda regret walking for my college graduation too. Just give me the diploma so I can get a job.
    via u/RiflemanLax
  • 18
    Font - newhunter18 As the divorced dad whose kids lean on to shelter them from their crazy mom, my hat goes off to you, good sir! 661 Brandilio OP S Reply Share Thanks! Your relationship with your kids is gonna pay off when they're grown up. Speaking from experience. Money can't buy a good relationship.
    via u/newhunter18

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dads school student graduation students seniors senior moms project School of FAIL high school parents
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