Graduation presents for high school graduates who will always live at home?

[Bambam]

I need graduation present ideas for high school graduates who will always probably live at home due to a variety of issues. I can give money, but I've always preferred to give a physical gift. I'd like to limit to $25-$30.  If money is the best option, I will do that though.  TIA!

[BusyMom5]

Necklace, stationary set, inspirational book?  I'd give 💰 

[Lawyer&Mom]

A nice pen. 

[itsheresomewhere]

Money. 
 

Speaking as someone who knows this well, money was the best.  Although the other person may say it was the chick fil a  and a local burger place gift cards as their best graduation gift ever. 😆 

[Kassia]

My first choice would be money, but otherwise a gift card or a graduation personalized gift like an ornament, pillow, blanket, mug...

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Kassia

[Tanaqui]

Money is usual for graduation, perhaps with a nice book or journal or a watch.

[bookbard]

 

2 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Money is usual for graduation, perhaps with a nice book or journal or a watch.

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

[DeainUSA]

My son would still want money.  He would also love his favorite snacks, gift card to Meijer or restaurant, also grubhub since he cannot drive.  

[regentrude]

17 minutes ago, bookbard said:

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

It's not a thing in Germany. Neither are "graduation announcements".

[Danae]

Maybe something for their room to make it more “adult.”  A new bedding set or bookshelves or other furniture.

[Lilaclady]

money- maybe origami folded

ear buds/ headsets

bagpacks or bags

gift card to local stores

nice room decor

 

[katilac]

Are your kids great friends with them? A photo mug or can be a cute memento, or even a photo book (falls in the budget with the current Walgreens sale!). Are they super-fans of a certain movie or tv series? Consumable swag is fun, like notebooks or stickers. If they wear t-shirts, you can usually get a custom tee in that price range if swag isn't common. 

In other years, I'd suggest a 'line a day' diary for some grads, but that may still be too depressing this summer (with not even a line of things to write about, lol). 

If you know what their favorite snacks and such are, a towering pyramid of food is usually popular with young people.  

I wouldn't do nice pens, notecards, or such unless you know they are stationary nerds. 

Maybe gift cards to the same fast food joint - if they're all local, they could choose to meet up and eat outside or in the park. 

I like the fun of physical gifts, too, so I usually try to theme my money gifts and combine with something. ex, The Walking Dead fan got a cheap frame that said, "In case of Zombie Apocalypse, break glass" and behind the glass was a pocket knife, a sticker from the show, a $20 bill, and something else I don't remember. 

[Tanaqui]

2 hours ago, bookbard said:

 

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

 

I have no idea why I can quote or not, and this is the most irritating thing.

Anyway, by that argument, having a new baby IS the gift, as is being married or being in a new house or getting a year older. It's a major life event, and graduation gifts are expected to either symbolize your movement into adulthood or help you begin your new life as a slightly more independent entity. Money covers both things nicely.

[katilac]

1 minute ago, Lilaclady said:

money- maybe origami folded

Oh yeah, that's the other thing we do with money gifts! dh has folded money into innumerable things over the years, lol 

[Lilaclady]

Just now, katilac said:

Oh yeah, that's the other thing we do with money gifts! dh has folded money into innumerable things over the years, lol 

I make a money train where  get $1 bills. I try to get new ones and then get my kids to tape them end to end, I put them in a tissue box and an instruction to pull. The kids usually like that they pull and all the money comes out. i do it for 16th birthdays usually with about $40. 

[Garga]

2 hours ago, bookbard said:

 

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

It might be a USA tradition because college costs are so enormous. People leave college with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. It takes most people 10 years to pay off the debt.  

So...money is very welcome for a student headed to college. That’s probably why it’s a tradition in the US.

And if the student is not headed to college, then they just get the benefit of the tradition, even if it’s not really applicable to them.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Garga

[katilac]

2 minutes ago, Garga said:

It might be a USA tradition because college costs are so enormous. People leave college with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. It takes most people 10 years to pay off the debt.  

So...money is very welcome for a student headed to college. That’s probably why it’s a tradition in the US.

And if the student is not headed to college, then they just get the benefit of the tradition, even if it’s not really applicable to them.

I am old enough to know that this tradition pre-dates soaring college costs 😄

[Garga]

Just now, katilac said:

I am old enough to know that this tradition pre-dates soaring college costs 😄

Ok! It was just a theory. I graduated in 1990 and no one gave me anything, except my parents. We had an old watch and they had it repaired for me and they took me out to Hardees to get a burger after graduation. 

I guess I didn’t realize that the other kids were getting stuff when I wasn’t. 😄

[bookbard]

44 minutes ago, Garga said:

It might be a USA tradition because college costs are so enormous. People leave college with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. It takes most people 10 years to pay off the debt.  

 

Yes, and I think the other thing is that it seems (from movies lol) that people head off to college and live in dorms (and thereby need money for moving costs). Whereas in Australia, you either stay at home for Uni, or if you're from the country you find someone to flat with. There is on campus housing at most universities, but not a lot. I was trying to see what % of US school leavers end up at university - apparently in Australia it's 60% by the age of 22, which gives them a gap year or so, I guess. 

[katilac]

8 minutes ago, bookbard said:

Yes, and I think the other thing is that it seems (from movies lol) that people head off to college and live in dorms (and thereby need money for moving costs). Whereas in Australia, you either stay at home for Uni, or if you're from the country you find someone to flat with. There is on campus housing at most universities, but not a lot. I was trying to see what % of US school leavers end up at university - apparently in Australia it's 60% by the age of 22, which gives them a gap year or so, I guess. 

In the states, it's been holding steady for about a decade at roughly 44% going to a four-year and 23% going to a two-year (which would be lots of short training certificates and such in addition to two-year degrees). But it's really not a college thing, the money tradition predates both rising costs and rising enrollments. It was definitely the done thing in my neck of the woods since at least the early 1970s, and going to college would have been far less common than going to work in that time/place. 

Note: these numbers are just for enrolling in college, not for finishing. 

[Ausmumof3]

7 hours ago, bookbard said:

 

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

Yeah I’ve never heard of it!  

[Laura Corin]

9 hours ago, bookbard said:

 

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

I don't think it's common here either, neither for leaving school nor for university graduation.  As you say, the diploma is the gift.  ETA: Most UK students live away from home for university.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Laura Corin

[Kassia]

8 hours ago, Lilaclady said:

I make a money train where  get $1 bills. I try to get new ones and then get my kids to tape them end to end, I put them in a tissue box and an instruction to pull. The kids usually like that they pull and all the money comes out. i do it for 16th birthdays usually with about $40. 

We've done that, too! It's always really fun!  :)

[Bambam]

11 hours ago, katilac said:

Are your kids great friends with them? A photo mug or can be a cute memento, or even a photo book (falls in the budget with the current Walgreens sale!). Are they super-fans of a certain movie or tv series? Consumable swag is fun, like notebooks or stickers. If they wear t-shirts, you can usually get a custom tee in that price range if swag isn't common. 

 

No, my kids aren't great friends with them - more like casual acquaintances. I have made small photo books before for friends, but I don't have enough pictures of this particular kid to much with - and the ones I have aren't great.  Only thing they are fans of is trains, and this one has lots of train stuff. 

[itsheresomewhere]

35 minutes ago, Bambam said:

No, my kids aren't great friends with them - more like casual acquaintances. I have made small photo books before for friends, but I don't have enough pictures of this particular kid to much with - and the ones I have aren't great.  Only thing they are fans of is trains, and this one has lots of train stuff. 

Any chance you might have a train museum near you? A day pass would be perfect.  Or a subscription to a train magazine?  There are quite a few out there and from what I understand from a friend’s son- all are good and each one is different.

[J-rap]

15 hours ago, bookbard said:

 

I'm curious - I wonder if this is a USA specific tradition. Do other countries do this? Certainly you don't give out presents for finishing school in Australia. Finishing school is the gift!

It's a HUGE tradition, especially in some areas.  Where I grew up and went to school (on the west coast of the US), it wasn't a thing at all.  You'd get a gift from your parents and that was it, no big parties or even family gatherings (unless students on their own planned a students-only party on the beach or something, which is what our class did).  That's maybe all changed by now.

For my kids, it was completely different.  We lived in a small town in a different part of the country, and it was a tradition in that town for every student's family to hold an open house.  Usually they were quite simple:  Held in their backyard or garage, in a nearby park, or in their home.  You'd send out invites to families and other students in the same class (and their families), your doctor, your dentist, the town librarian... but really, anyone could come.  You'd just pick a two-hour slot on one of the weekends around graduation, and people would pop in during that time to stay a few minutes, congratulate the student, eat a sloppy joe or something that was provided, and drop a card with cash in a basket.  Average amount per card was about $10.  

As guests, you knew you couldn't attend all of them but you'd pick 10-20 and then plan your route. 

We balked at the tradition at first, but it ended up being kind of fun.  

[Bambam]

43 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Any chance you might have a train museum near you? A day pass would be perfect.  Or a subscription to a train magazine?  There are quite a few out there and from what I understand from a friend’s son- all are good and each one is different.

I really hesitate to do any train item. The parents are very supportive of this child and take them to all sorts of train events/museums/model train exhibits/special engines traveling through/etc. They gets many train magazines already.  It seems an overload of train stuff to, but since it is a large favorite, I will contact the mom and ask if she has any train item/magazine/etc related suggestions. I did think ... maybe since the UP (? or some other railroad) has different train/engine paint schemes, I did think about customizing the letters in their name to reflect those paint schemes and printing out their name and having that framed? Would that be clutter? 

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, Bambam said:

I really hesitate to do any train item. The parents are very supportive of this child and take them to all sorts of train events/museums/model train exhibits/special engines traveling through/etc. They gets many train magazines already.  It seems an overload of train stuff to, but since it is a large favorite, I will contact the mom and ask if she has any train item/magazine/etc related suggestions. I did think ... maybe since the UP (? or some other railroad) has different train/engine paint schemes, I did think about customizing the letters in their name to reflect those paint schemes and printing out their name and having that framed? Would that be clutter? 

It might be clutter to the kid.  I would probably think of it as clutter.  

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, Seasider too said:

 

ETA lol just wouldn’t want to send the wrong message with luggage - you’re not trying to say pack up and leave - hopefully ykwim and would only give that sort of thing if it were appropriate and wouldn’t be misconstrued. I just know all the ones we gave nice travel suitcases to really love them. 

I love this idea for a student who would use it!  

[katilac]

8 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I don't think it's common here either, neither for leaving school nor for university graduation.  As you say, the diploma is the gift.   

I'm still not getting the "the diploma is the gift" viewpoint. If the parents send their kids to private school, okay, that diploma is a gift from them, but not from anybody else! And if they go to public school, the parents don't pay for it.

[Laura Corin]

42 minutes ago, katilac said:

I'm still not getting the "the diploma is the gift" viewpoint. If the parents send their kids to private school, okay, that diploma is a gift from them, but not from anybody else! And if they go to public school, the parents don't pay for it.

It's not a gift from the parents.  Instead it's the prize,  the recognition of all the work they have put in. They don't need everyone else to give them a present because they already have the diploma. 

[happi duck]

I personally hated getting dorm stuff or moving out type stuff.  I wanted to pick things out and also didn't want to feel pushed.

I've never had the same attitude others seem to have about graduation.  I'm glad to hear I would fit in in other countries! Lol!

I actually like the line a day journal idea from upthread!  Even though things might be personally "boring" now it would be a good to see how things change over five years.   I keep one and often include current events instead of personal things.  

Here's a line a day example: https://www.chroniclebooks.com/collections/stationery-journals/products/one-line-a-day-a-five-year-memory-book?_pos=2&_sid=a62b9ca73&_ss=r

 

[bookbard]

By the way, my comment "leaving school is the gift" was mostly a joke. I really didn't enjoy school and was glad to leave! 

There is a bit of a tradition now of going off on a holiday with your friends once you've finished school, they call it 'schoolies' and a lot of people go to the Gold Coast and cause havoc. That started maybe 20 years ago? Wasn't a thing when I finished up, partly because the timing of exams and results have changed a bit. 

Thinking about it, the 'end of school' was different, too. We didn't really have a graduation ceremony that I recall. Your last exam - which would depend on which subjects you were taking - was your last day of school. I was doing Ancient History with 2 other students, that was my last exam and last day of school. So not a huge event.