Paul Sassone

It seemed pretty easy to figure out the right and wrong of this story.

The principal of Senatobia High School in Mississippi filed disturbing-the-peace charges against four people who yelled at graduation ceremonies.

It was reported one of the accused shouted out a student’s name. Another waved a towel and yelled, “You did it, baby!”

If found guilty, the four people charged faced a fine of $500 and six months in jail.

Outrageous, huh? Another example of government abusing its power. Get government off our backs.

That’s what I thought, too. At first. Then I thought some more.

School officials had asked students and their parents in writing in the program and verbally before the ceremony not to shout out or cheer until all graduates had received their diplomas.

The school’s principal, Jay Foster, issued a statement after graduation that he had filed the charges because, “The goal (of asking people not to shout) was to allow all graduates to have the privilege of hearing their name called.”

You know, he is right.

While some people are shouting, other people can’t hear the name of their son or daughter being announced. And isn’t it merely an egotistical display of self-centeredness to shout out, “You did it, baby?”

Baby knows she did it. There’s no reason to shout it out.

Self-gratification is not OK if it impinges on someone else. But we see more and more of that kind of behavior today.

It’s what I call the Galooting of America. “Galoot” is an old-timey, but descriptive, word for a boor, a selfish clod.

To view a galoot, just watch people drive, or listen to them shouting into their phones in restaurants.

Galoots are not hard to find. And this isn’t just my opinion.

A 2013 nationwide Civility in America survey was conducted by the public relations firm of Weber Shandwick. It found that 70 percent of Americans believe that incivility has reached crisis proportions.

According to the survey, Americans experience incivility 2.4 times a day. And 81 percent believe incivility leads to violence.

This survey buttressed results of a 2005 Associated Press poll in which 70 percent of the respondents said Americans are ruder than 20 years ago. And 93 percent of those who felt this way blamed parents.

And a Rasmussen phone survey this year of 800 adults found that 75 percent think Americans are becoming ruder and less civilized. Only 10 percent responded that Americans are becoming kinder and gentler.

So, I’m not going to condemn that high school principal. He was standing up for civility, courtesy and respect for others.

But, you ask, isn’t a $500 fine and six months in jail excessive?

Yes.

And apparently the principal thinks so, too. He dropped all charges.