I graduated from high school at a time (1972) and a place (Southern California) where no one I hung out would even consider going to the prom. Apparently this is a minority experience, though.
So – did you go to the prom? If not, was it traumatic for you that you didn’t? (Hell, for that matter, if you did, was it traumatic for you that you did? 
)
Give your HS graduation year so we’ve got some context.
twicks; 1972; no; not a problem.
Sampiro, 1984, nope, never regretted it for a moment (in part because the season finale of Dallas was on that night).
Southern California, graduated in 1973.
Nope. My girlfriend and I decided that since neither of us liked to dance, and we didn’t really like the poeple at our school anyway, we’d rather go to Disneyland. So we did. Our parents cancelled our curfews for that night, and we ate breakfast in Newport Beach watching the sunrise. Lots more fun, and a lot less money. I don’t miss the prom experience at all.
Most Conservative City in Colorado, 1995
I wasn’t planning on going, but my friends talked me into it. Stayed for about 30 minutes and left. Was very unpopular in High School and dirt poor. No fancy dress, no makeup. I wish I had stuck to my guns and stayed home.
Didn’t go to my 10 year high school reunion either. My brother is going to his this week, but he was the social one. (We went to the same High School)
!972, Baltimore, MD. I went. No trauma, had some fun. It was fun just to see everyone all dressed up.
I went with the future Mrs. Mercotan in 1974 and 1975. We both graduated in 1975.
10 days ago, we saw our youngest off to her junior prom.
Yes. 1982. Metro DC area. Had a great time. Would not have been traumatic not to go, but I would have felt I missed out on an important event. No way I would have voluntarily missed it.
I was at my prom (2004) for 20 minutes - the last 20 at that.
My boyfriend and I were on an FFA judging team, and state finals were that day. We won State, drove about 3 hours back in the van with out teacher and teammates, went home and changed, and made our appearance. I liked it better that way since I didn’t dance anyhow, and I was too tired to if I had wanted to. But I DID have a winner’s glow that night…
Had I been there all night I would have hated it.
Nope. Since did not have a girlfriend, I didn’t see the reason. Although I had several friends say they knew some girls who would go with me. Gee, no thanks, was my reply. Such things really aren’t me, and few of my friends were going, so i worked at Kroger’s instead.
Woo Hoo!!
And because of it, I’m scarred to this day.
I went to my GF’s junior prom, went to my anti-prom, and later went to my then GF’s prom.
#1 - We were both juniors (11th grade), she went to a different school. I felt it was more important for her than for me.
#2 - We had an anti-prom, an anti-song, and an anti-saying. Because our school was pretty evenly split between the heads and the preps. The preps were on the student body, of course, so they decided on a song (some Barry Manilow shit), a prom theme and a class saying that meant nothing to any of us. So we chose our own song (Free Bird), our own class saying (Try not to die.), and threw an awesome party on Prom Night that had a much bigger attendance than the prom (kids came from all over, not just our school).
#3 - Different GF than #1. She was 17, a senior, from yet another school. I was out of school for a year already (19).
Had fun at all 3.
Yep, in 1989. With a blind date, no less. 
I was all set not to go: I’d asked someone and been rejected, and waited too long to ask the friend who would have gone with me, and was just going to be done with the whole thing when my friend said that her cousin would go with me. I’d been pretty upset at the idea of not going, because all of my friends were going and were chipping in on a limo (and it was, after all, senior prom), so I said “what the hell” and went with Cliffy. And it wasn’t bad! He was kind of generically attractive and we had a decent time, but we didn’t “click” enough to hook up or start dating or anything. We weren’t popular enough to go to an after party or rich enough to throw our own, so we each just had the limo drop us home afterwards. I’m glad I went.
Oh yeah, the years!
1980, 1981, 1982
Graduated in 1995.
I did wind up going to the prom with a - gasp - date! I wound up asking him when we were both drunk a a party. When he said yes, I said really loudly, “But no sex.”
Um, I should probably clarify that I didn’t go with our Cliffy. At least, as far as I know.
Graduated in 1982. Didn’t go, didn’t regret it. Even if anybody had asked me, I was far too much of a tomboy to enjoy getting done up in an evening gown and all that other girly stuff. I think I was probably glad nobody asked me, since it saved me a lot of agonizing over whether it would be worth it to dress in a way that would make me uncomfortable all night.
I think it might have been fun to go with some offbeat friends, but they didn’t go either.
I only went to two dances when I was in high school - my freshman welcoming dance and my junior prom. The reason I decided to go was because my mother told me she was too drunk to remember her prom and that she regretted it. I didn’t want to regret it so I went. I took my boyfriend, a sophomore at a nearby high school.
We were both goth/punks, and so we dressed quite differently from most of the couples. We decided to go totally sober, which was very unusual for both of us. I’ll never forget how wasted some people were. A girl puked in the hallway to the photo room, so most people had their prom picture taken with the smell of vomit hovering in the air. Prom was kind of boring, actually.
But I’m so glad I went, because we have a picture that is priceless. It’s my boyfriend in a deep red silk shirt and black pants, me in a black lace gown with a thirties-style veil and goth makeup, my twin sister in a sequin dress made up of turquoise, orange, white and etc. colored splotches, and her date in a tux with a ruffly shirt and turquoise bowtie and cummerbund. We now look at that picture and laugh hysterically. We couldn’t have looked more different.
SF Bay Area, 1978. I went, with a non-girlfriend, just for the sake of going. The only dance I’ve ever gone to (not counting the ones I worked on Stage Crew (shut up!)). I had fun. We went on a double-date with some other people in Band (shut up!!!). She shook my hand afterwards. Now that scarred me.
I didn’t go to mine, or any other dances. I was about 10-15 years away from maturing enough to have a really good time at a prom!
Delano High, Ca, 1980 didn’t go–there was no one special to me who asked and I was a late bloomer. I felt like I should mind that no one asked, but I didn’t. I was going to Europe that summer and all my focus was ahead.