Thank you, that reminds me of another pet peeve of mine regarding the education system in US:
In India, where I'm originally from, even high-school was not given much importance, primary objective was getting into a good college. People dropped out for economic reasons and not other.
Here in the US by celebrating something as simple as "graduating" 5th-6th grade, we're telling these kids that they have achieved something, when they clearly have not, and then we mourn the fact that many kids dropout even before high-school.
I doubt that those early grade parties have much impact any which way.
I think they are the sort of thing that makes a certain type of parent or teacher feel good, so they end up happening when those people decide to make them happen. The kids get some cake and forget about it a week later (or maybe 2 weeks into the stress of starting at a new school).
As far as I know, the message that graduating high school is important gets hammered on over and over (and then it isn't particularly important, a GED works about as well anywhere a diploma is supposed to matter).
In India, where I'm originally from, even high-school was not given much importance, primary objective was getting into a good college. People dropped out for economic reasons and not other.
Here in the US by celebrating something as simple as "graduating" 5th-6th grade, we're telling these kids that they have achieved something, when they clearly have not, and then we mourn the fact that many kids dropout even before high-school.