Gustine High School will host its 2008 commencement as scheduled Friday night, barring some last-minute twist in a story that has had more than its share of drama, hand-wringing, finger-pointing, denial and rationalization.

Nice job, grads.

Gustine’s latest black eye comes courtesy of the Class of 2008.....or at least a significant number of its members, enough to where a night of campus vandalism will be their stamp in the collective memory of the community.

That’s not a fair legacy for many in the class, whose ranks include some outstanding young men and women who are going to go on to do wonderful things in their lives, but it is what it is.....and, yes, some of those “good” kids took part in vandalizing the campus to the tune of $5,000 in damages.

Many in the community were outraged, and rightfully so.

At the other end of the scale were those who were coming to the defense of those involved....at least those involved who they didn’t want to see get in too much trouble over the whole thing.

You know.....they didn’t mean for all that to happen.....it was just a prank......you should have seen what we did back when we were kids.....it was the “bad” kids who did the real damage...... and kids will be kids, you know.

People can rationalize and rearrange the facts to suit their liking all they want, but the bottom line remains this: School isn’t open at 1:30 in the morning. Never has been, as far as I know. It’s a money-in-the-bank bet that anybody who is on campus at that time of the night isn’t getting some extra study time in or just making sure that they’re not late for class that day.

Everybody who was involved in any way, no matter how peripherally, shares responsibility for what happened.....and my hunch is that, while it is convenient to blame a small minority for the majority of the damage, more students were more deeply involved than the “but it was just a prank” group is willing to admit or, more likely, really wants to know.

And, of course, there is the rather inconvenient fact that the “prank” was criminal.....but what happens with that remains to be seen.

Some people believe that Gustine High School’s graduation should have been canceled altogether. A great many others feel that those responsible should not be allowed to walk in the ceremonies.

Of course, when word got around Friday that the school board had scheduled a meeting for Monday to consider calling off graduation (the meeting was subsequently canceled, and graduation goes on), you could almost hear the uproar of righteous indignation from those who realized that they might actually have to face the consequences.

“They” are trying to cancel “our” graduation was apparently the rallying cry. Excuse me?

A strong case could be made that “they” should have done just that.

First of all, let’s not confuse the issue here. It wasn’t the school board or administrators trashing a campus in the middle of the night. They are just the people left to deal with the aftermath of the students’ actions, and that included deciding on a suitable punishment. The kids put themselves at the mercy of those decisions.

Had graduation been canceled, it would have been because of the actions of the students, not those of the school board or administration.

Students who participated in any way put their own graduation in jeopardy.

Students who knew about the prank but stayed silent put their own graduation in jeopardy.

And parents who knew what was being planned share plenty of responsibility as well.

I have no problem with the school’s disciplinary response of requiring those involved to work 10 hours of school service and make restitution in the amount of $100 before being allowed to walk in graduation ceremonies Friday.

I also believe, though, that the district would have been well within its rights to cancel graduation or hold out those who vandalized the campus.

Now the school must stand firm on the discipline it has imposed. If that means telling a dozen seniors Friday that they aren’t walking in graduation because they chose not to pony up the hours and cash to make things right with the school, so be it. Don’t be surprised if somebody doens’t meet the requirements, and then tries to make school officials the bad guys.

Students can do what they are required in order to graduate. Or not.

It’s their choice, just as it was their choice to trash the campus.

Don’t get me wrong, by the way.....I’m not saying those involved in the vandalism are all bad kids. Most aren’t, probably a few are....just like the cross-section of people you find everywhere.

But what happened wasn’t okay. It wasn’t just fun and games. It certainly was no prank.

I hope those involved realize that they are getting a huge break, better than at least some deserve.

Some will get it; others probably won’t.

Sadly, too many people - adults included - are still wondering just what all the fuss is about.

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