Prom has become a rite of passage for high school students. Just like getting your driver’s license the moment a student turns sixteen, prom has a high level of expectation especially during a student’s junior and senior years.
Our school does a great job at making prom a special occasion. Planning happens almost as soon as the last prom is over. A student committee works with school faculty months before the event. The wonderful evening has become almost a full weekend. Today, many students will hit the tanning booths to turn any winter paleness into a Malibu bronze. Haircuts, highlights and perms will happen today or early tomorrow. Some couples will hire a photographer for pictures before prom. Grand March begins early afternoon and has become a feature event before the dinner and dance. The dinner and dance begins early evening and goes late. Some couples plan a Sunday afternoon get-together, making it a full weekend.
Prom can be a great time for young people preparing for an elegant evening, practicing proper social graces and treating your date with high honor. Couples that plan on doing things together with other couples find that the excitement of prom is multiplied because the experience is shared.
The down side is the high expenses paid for a single event. A parent told me this morning that they are spending $400 for their son’s prom expense. Some students go big ticket and rent expensive tuxes, costly beauty treatments, hire limousines, photographers and the sky is the limit on what can be spent.
Many students go with someone who is “just a friend”. Experience has shown that spending close to $1000. per couple suddenly places high expectations on their “just friendship”. The morning after prom is often filled with shame and anxiety over actions remembered or blurred. Law enforcement officers are staffed heavier and hate arriving at scenes of injured youth or worse.
Pondering prom for your growing son or daughter?
There is the good and there is the bad. There are scripture verses that you can cite promoting prom or prohibiting prom. My wife and I chose to discourage prom for our children and instead promoted spreading those expenses over several weeks doing a wider range of activities with friends rather than in one day or weekend.
What are your ponderings about prom?
Students and parents may leave your comments here:
Our school does a great job at making prom a special occasion. Planning happens almost as soon as the last prom is over. A student committee works with school faculty months before the event. The wonderful evening has become almost a full weekend. Today, many students will hit the tanning booths to turn any winter paleness into a Malibu bronze. Haircuts, highlights and perms will happen today or early tomorrow. Some couples will hire a photographer for pictures before prom. Grand March begins early afternoon and has become a feature event before the dinner and dance. The dinner and dance begins early evening and goes late. Some couples plan a Sunday afternoon get-together, making it a full weekend.
Prom can be a great time for young people preparing for an elegant evening, practicing proper social graces and treating your date with high honor. Couples that plan on doing things together with other couples find that the excitement of prom is multiplied because the experience is shared.
The down side is the high expenses paid for a single event. A parent told me this morning that they are spending $400 for their son’s prom expense. Some students go big ticket and rent expensive tuxes, costly beauty treatments, hire limousines, photographers and the sky is the limit on what can be spent.
Many students go with someone who is “just a friend”. Experience has shown that spending close to $1000. per couple suddenly places high expectations on their “just friendship”. The morning after prom is often filled with shame and anxiety over actions remembered or blurred. Law enforcement officers are staffed heavier and hate arriving at scenes of injured youth or worse.
Pondering prom for your growing son or daughter?
There is the good and there is the bad. There are scripture verses that you can cite promoting prom or prohibiting prom. My wife and I chose to discourage prom for our children and instead promoted spreading those expenses over several weeks doing a wider range of activities with friends rather than in one day or weekend.
What are your ponderings about prom?
Students and parents may leave your comments here:
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