Self Fulfilling

It's graduation season, which means lots of photos and shared memories. And what a great day a graduation is, the validation of many years of hard work...or work...OK, just skating by. Nevertheless, it's the culmination of a lot of years, both an ending and a beginning. Naturally, people want to remember the moment with photos.
When I graduated from high school and college, my family attended and we snapped a bunch of photos. Other relatives from out of town and out of state were able to see them the next time they visited. These days, luckily, photos can be shared instantly on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. Heck, you can even stream live video if you're so inclined.
Unless you're from a neighboring town near where I live. Photos, unless officially sanctioned, are off limits, especially to graduates. Two students at Elk Grove High School were denied their diplomas because they took selfies whilst walking across the stage after their names were announced.
Taking a selfie during graduation is against school policy. None of the kids, say, in the Class of 1974 took selfies, so...
The photos, which were captured on video, took all of 2 seconds to snap and caused next to no disruption in the flow of the ceremony. But rules are rules after all...even really stupid rules. The school doesn't want disruptions. Got it. The photos didn't really disrupt much, but that isn't the reason it's a dumb policy.
My real question in all of this is why can't "in charge" people understand the writing on the wall? This fight is long over. Every person in the audience over the age of four has a camera in their pocket and can snap a photo and have it posted to Facebook before the grad is finished walking across the stage.
I understand the school wants to maintain the credibility of their agreement with the official photographer, but trying to quell students from taking selfies is a lost cause in the long run.
A bigger problem, from the point of view of parents, is the students cannot get their diploma until they come to the Principal's office...with parents in tow. Yes, because parents aren't busy at all. And what is the purpose of that? To dish out one last lecture? To wag a disapproving finger? And why do parents have to be there? If you, as a school, drag me down to the school with my child, as if he's seven and not a high school graduate, I'm picking up that diploma and delivering a punch in the face.
Rather than try to enforce a stupid rule for graduation like no selfies or other equally uncontrollable things like no messages on mortar boards or no oxygen allowed, why can't they see there is nothing they can do to stand in the way of technology and set out some simple guidelines instead?
PS, "it's not allowed" isn't a guideline. Just tell the students graduation is a dignified event, selfies should take no more than 2-3 seconds, include just themselves in the main context of the photo and a few other standards related to dress code and decorum.
Or...you can simply run a school in a way that shows you relating to your students most effectively by keeping a boot across their throats.
Schools are learning institutions. So what did we learn here? Obey, unwaveringly, the people in power over you or suffer the consequences. What a great lesson to send your students as they depart high school and head into life as adults.