More often than not, high school graduation speeches are meandering and upbeat musings, à la Oh, The Places You’ll Go! given by an idealistic teenager whose spirit has yet to be broken. But not Peter Butera. Pennsylvania’s The Citizen’s Voice reported that the 18-year-old’s microphone was turned off in the middle of his speech criticizing the school’s “authoritative” administration. A video of the speech ended up on Reddit, inspiring rebellious high school students everywhere.
During his speech, Butera says his role as class president felt more like being a “class party planner” and calls out teachers for limiting students’ abilities to grow as leaders. Less than a minute in, the sound goes out and Butera is escorted from the stage while students jump to their feet and cheer. John Hughes couldn’t have written it better himself.