Next to prom time, school administrators approach commencement time with a mixture of joy and apprehension. Whether it involves senior shenanigans where graduates blow off steam with misguided pranks, or trying to get seniors to show up at commencement rehearsals and take them seriously, or whether it involves illegal drinking celebrations or other illicit activities in and around the school, administrators hold their collective breath and pray that they can get through the end of the school year without a major incident.

As for the commencement exercises themselves, administrators put on a brave face, because, here, too, there are potential pitfalls. They range from the ubiquitous beach balls, which some students smuggle into the ceremony, ill-advised messages on mortarboards, obscene gestures or backward flips on stage, it all adds up to high tension and anxiety for administrators who know that the ceremony is as much for parents, grandparents and other relatives as it is for the graduates themselves.

The behavior of some audience members is also a source of frustration as they scream and carry on as their child or relative gets his or her diploma. As far as the announcement, “Please hold your applause until all graduates have received their diplomas, so each name can be heard distinctly,” well, the emcee might as well save his or her breath.

The one area where administrators do exert control with an iron fist is the content of the commencement addresses, usually delivered by the class valedictorian, salutatorian and president.

A growing number of schools have begun to do away with class rank, so there is no No. 1 and No. 2. (I’ll have more to say about this trend in a future column.) Most of the schools in our area still name the top two academic achievers, who, as part of the honor, get to speak at commencement exercises.

Years ago, administrators would write the speeches for the honor students who would merely parrot the words, but, thankfully, this practice ended. Still, administrators require speakers to submit their speeches for review, and if there are controversial passages they are either removed, or compromise language is agreed upon.

Then, administrators cross their fingers, hoping that the agreed upon speech is read without any additions or ad-libs. Some schools even station a censor at the public address system, and if the student deviates from the approved speech into controversial territory, the microphone is cut off.

That’s exactly what happened in nearby Wyoming High School in Exeter, Luzerne County. When valedictorian and class president Peter Butera started saying some words that were not in the original speech cleared by the administration, his microphone was cut off, and he was escorted from the stage.

When a Florida commencement speaker paused during his speech, the principal, fearing a deviation from the prepared text, stopped the speech and had the speaker removed from the stage by security guards.

An Oklahoma senior used the word “hell” in an ad-lib deviation from her speech, and the school withheld her diploma.

Cali Christenson, a straight-A graduating senior at Tomahawk High School in Wisconsin, was told to remove references to discrimination and school shootings from her commencement address — too controversial for a high school graduation, she was told. She refused to change the wording and decided not to give the speech. A local newspaper published the speech in its entirety the next day.

We generally don’t run into this type of controversy locally. At Jim Thorpe’s commencement earlier this month, class President Trevor Keefer spoke about creating memories. He also recalled the loss of classmates who never made it to graduation.

Panther Valley’s valedictorian Cordell Brettle was among those speakers who quoted famous people or even fictional characters. He quoted comic book hero Green Arrow: “An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming,” Brettle told his classmates.

At Lehighton, valedictorian Alexander Karpowicz encouraged class members not to rest on their laurels. Jim Thorpe valedictorian Kayley Kovac used song and dance to encourage her classmates to end their day by “dancing in the moonlight.” Panther Valley salutatorian Sarah Markovich said the school has taught students that they should “always expect the unexpected.”

Respectful, noncontroversial remarks, the stuff that makes administrators smile with relief.

Some students believe incorrectly that they have full First Amendment freedom of speech rights in their commencement comments. True, the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier decision said students do not shed their rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate, but it also gave schools greater latitude to censor when a student is using a forum subsidized by the school as part of the educational program.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com