The Kids Are Alright, Part VII

OK. I know graffiti is “bad” but I think these kids deserve a hand for at least trying to make it right.

When someone painted “God hates fags” on the school rock at Howell High, Shayna Kamilar did not hesitate. She called her friends, told her mother she was going out and left the house.

“We knew we had to paint over it,” said Kamilar, an 18-year-old senior. “It had to happen.”

Kamilar and her pals used 18 cans of spray paint to cover the rock and write the word LOVE dozens of times on school property. They got themselves accused of vandalism, suspended from class and barred from Saturday’s graduation.

The community reacted strongly, praising the original spirit of the rock-painting expedition while acknowledging that the extended artwork may have gone too far. More than 200 students protested the punishment, and parents scheduled a small backyard graduation ceremony for the group’s three seniors.

Now the ceremony has been moved to a football field. One teacher will speak. Another will hand out the diplomas. The valedictorian will repeat the address he is giving earlier in the day. The school photographer will record the event for free. Even the superintendent called to make sure the seniors have caps, gowns and yearbooks.

“I think we got over-punished, but I still got to stand up for what I believe in,” said Vinnie Mascola, a 17-year-old senior who says he is often called a derogatory name because he works on school plays. “What we did was small, but it got big and we got people thinking.”

Yeah, they got overpunished, but at least they also got a fair amount of support in the end. An this is in “a community that has long faced a reputation for intolerance.” So, maybe things are changing, little by little, for the better.