Very occasionally, I must put all pride aside, and ask a question that reveals truly abyssal depths of ignorance on my part. This is one such occasion. What I desire to know is: what exactly happens at that venerable high school event, the prom? Where I live (Australia), we don’t have proms; instead, schools here have what you’d call a “formal”. I don’t know much about these either, however, because, when I was at school, I didn’t bother going to mine. (My reasons for skipping mine were rather weird, but I’ll elaborate on them if anyone wants me to. I have a brother who also didn’t bother going to his although his reason for doing this was pretty straightforward: he simply HATED the school we both went to, as well as almost everyone in it!) So what does happen at the prom (in terms of both sanctioned and non-sanctioned activities 
), exactly? I’ve heard of before parties and after parties; prom kings and queens (which is one tradition that I’m fairly sure has no equivalent in the Australian school formal although anyone who can is welcome to prove me wrong on this); prom photos, and all the rest; how does prom night typically go, and does it vary in the finer details from school to school? Is it something that only happens in a student’s final year at school? Do they still hold them at the actual schools (as they did when I was a student myself; I graduated in 1990) or elsewhere, as seems more the case - at least here - now? When I was at school, my formal was apparently little more than a disco (albeit one people spent a lot of money getting dressed up for!), though when another brother of mine (who didn’t hate school) went to his, it was more a three-course dinner held at some swanky venue outside the school. In case anyone’s wondering, I want to know this for a novel I’m currently writing.
You’ve nailed it. Proms can be any of those things. It varies from place to place and from time to time. At my school, we had a Christmas Formal, basically open to all (freshmen were not permitted to buy a ticket but could go as the date of a valid ticket holder) and a Senior Formal (seniors and their dates only). Neither was held at the school, but there really was no facility on campus large enough for the purpose anyway. The Christmas formal included a dinner, the Senior Prom did not. Older students generally left the Christmas Formal earlier, leaving it to the kiddies, while people generally stayed later for the Senior Prom. The sanctioned activites were dancing, picture taking, and drinking punch. The unsanctioned activites were basically what you’d expect (alcohol, sex and drugs).
If you have an hour and Real Audio, check out the “Prom” episode of This American Life. The segment on the Racine prom pretty much embodies every cliche about proms known to high school students, but all the segments are interesting.
Well, let’s see. First of all, high school in most parts of the United States is a four-year affair consisting of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. These years are called Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. In some schools, ninth grade is in a middle school and students don’t go to high school until their sophomore year.
That said, the prom is usually a party for high school seniors. The particulars can vary widely depending on the community. In some schools, the prom is a party thrown by the juniors for the seniors. The juniors do the planning, decorating, etc., and invite the seniors. In other schools (including where I currently teach), the entire shindig is thrown by the seniors and their parents. More affluent areas might even hire professional party planners.
The event is basically a formal dance. The students get dressed up big-time – renting tuxedos, buying fancy prom dresses, etc. Often, they’ll rent limosines (sorry about the spelling). I’ve even heard of some rich kids renting helicopters. Personally, I think that’s a bit extreme. Some proms include a banquet dinner beforehand. Others start later so that the guests can go have a fancy dinner at a restaurant. Once there, it’s pretty much just a dance.
The locations for the prom can vary widely, depending on availability of fascilities and money. My high school prom (in 1986) was held in the ballroom of a downtown highrise hotel (I grew up in a big city). In the small town that I currently work in, the prom is held at the local Knights of Columbus hall. (KC is a Catholic service organization). Other towns have their proms in local dance halls or spaces owned by other service groups. Some have them in the school cafeteria or school gym. The gym is often avoided, however, because the guests’ shoes are not good for wooden basketball floors. Hence the less formal dance known as the “sock-hop.”
Post-prom events can vary widely as well. Since my high school prom was in a hotel, many kids rented rooms in that hotel, or in nearby hotels. The party then simply moved to the other rooms. Events there included drinking, socializing, and sex. Here, the parties tend to move either to people’s houses or to farm fields, barns, etc. They also persue the similar, time-honored activities of booze and sex (or so I assume. Being their teacher, they don’t confide their sex-lives to me).
That’s about it. Have fun!
At my high school, the prom was open to juniors and seniors, and their dates. We all had one prom, but I think some schools might have separate events for the juniors and seniors. We had a banquet before-hand, then dancing, then favors for the seniors and their dates (in our case, glass steins and wine glasses). Attire was formal, with rented tuxes and dresses typically worn only that once then put away. Most folks brought dates, but it’s generally considered an event not to be missed, and some folks show up without dates and have fun anyway. We did not have a prom king and queen, but (like most schools in my area), we did have a homecoming king and queen.
Homecoming is the other big formal dance at most American schools; it’s some time in the fall, and is generally associated with a football game. The finalists for the Homecoming Royalty (usually about half a dozen couples, or so) all show up to the game in their dance clothes (fancy dresses and tuxedoes), and the King and Queen are announced at halftime in a ceremony on the field (the rest get to be the Homecoming Court).
Heres one take:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2102375/
take care
Bz
Post-prom activities are best summed up by noting the quip “The stock market’s dropping quicker than a cheerleader’s panties on prom night!” 