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The word "graduation" comes from the Latin "gradus" meaning a step and since the very beginning of academic dress wearing these special clothes have always been associated with rites of passage and celebrations of achievement.
One of the oldest, most famous and yet most basic hoods is the "Literate's'" hood, so named as wearing it confirmed the wearer as literate. In earlier times most of those wearing this hood for the first time would have been in their teens, so in a sense we are going back to the roots of academic dress.
The wearing of graduation gowns by children is a recent development here but has been long established in North America, particularly the USA, and hence we draw on their experience in children's gowns. American style graduation gowns are zipped fronted and have jacket style style sleeves, and these two features ensure that the gowns stay in place and are easy to wear. They also give the uniformity necessary to give that wow factor when the children are seen en masse.
The symbolism of the gown and of the ceremony changes as the children get older. When they are younger, the academic dress reflects the aspirations that children, parents and staff have for the children. Later, the ceremony adds a dimension of achivement to the aspiration. But whatever the age of the student, two things do not change. One is the step they are taking from one state to another, and the other is the sense of celebration and optimism and all the positive emotion that comes with it.
