High School Proms.

Factual Questions
21

[QUOTE=Shrinking Violet]
Aww I wouldn’t worry about him - plenty of boys at my daughter’s school didn’t bother with the Prom - I think some consider it a bit “sissy”. :smiley:
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AFAIAA They don’t have proms at his school, well they didn’t last I heard and I certain I’d have been told about it if they had had a change of heart and decided to go Americanish… :smiley:

My lad is also writing a book about the underground railway systems of the world which should be a rivetting read when/f it ever makes print.

He tells me that every year thousands of people are seen to get on a train but are never seen again…ever!!

Underground zombies??

22

[QUOTE=chowder]

He tells me that every year thousands of people are seen to get on a train but are never seen again…ever!!

Underground zombies??
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Nah … they’re all tied up talking to my daughter on MSN … :smiley:

23

Sounds like a good read chowder, let us know if it makes it to print.

Another American tradition that didn’t (as far as I am aware) ever really catch on in England is the Yearbook, from what I understand everyone has their picture taken and underneath the picture there is a list of any notable achievements, a quote, or the fact that they were voted “most likely to go to prison”.

24

[QUOTE=mittu]

Another American tradition that didn’t (as far as I am aware) ever really catch on in England is the Yearbook, from what I understand everyone has their picture taken and underneath the picture there is a list of any notable achievements, a quote, or the fact that they were voted “most likely to go to prison”.
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My daughter’s school does yearbooks too, but only for Prom years, ie ages 16 and 18.

25

[QUOTE=mittu]
Sounds like a good read chowder, let us know if it makes it to print.

Another American tradition that didn’t (as far as I am aware) ever really catch on in England is the Yearbook, from what I understand everyone has their picture taken and underneath the picture there is a list of any notable achievements, a quote, or the fact that they were voted “most likely to go to prison”.
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Well he’s been writing it for about 3 years now on and off.
He goes through spells of really hammering away it and then periods of doing bugger all for weeks on end.

I expect it to hit the best sellers list around 2020 :dubious:

26

[QUOTE=Shrinking Violet]
My daughter’s school does yearbooks too, but only for Prom years, ie ages 16 and 18.
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Don’t keep us in suspense, what do you expect she’ll be voted most likely to do

27

[QUOTE=chowder]
Don’t keep us in suspense, what do you expect she’ll be voted most likely to do
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Ummm … own a pink poodle, probably. :slight_smile:

28

A few American schools are eliminating or seriously downsizing the prom, because over the years, it has, in some communities, grown into a rather shameful exercise in conspicuous spending and excessive drunkenness. Often, there is an assumption that one will have sex with one’s prom date, as well. Every year, kids die of various acts of alcohol-fueled stupidity on prom night.

29

[QUOTE=chowder]
WhyNot
It seems to me that it’s a bit discriminatory in that you have to be asked, I mean there must be some girls/boys that are either unpopular or maybe don’t measure up to the beautiful/handsome sterotype. These latter ones could miss out even tho’ they may have the most charming personality which would beat the shit out of the glamour pusses.

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You can still go, you just would not have a date. That might not be that much fun as everyone else probably will. (besides, if you were that freakin charming you could find a date. It’s not like most kids in high school look like the O.C. and there are plenty of kids who aren’t the quarterback/star cheerleader)

The thing about prom is that it is pretty much the culmination of your 2-4 years (we had both junior and senior year prom) of high school social life. You get a limo/table with your best friends. You bring your girlfriend or maybe that girl you always wanted to ask out (but usually it’s just some girl who says “yes”). It’s kind of the last time your class is all together as a class. Sure the dance itself is lame, but that’s not really what it’s about.

But if you are the type of person who wasn’t really socially connected with your class or you don’t have any close friends, prom is not going to magically change all that. It will still be you and a bunch of people you have a nodding acquaintance with not really connecting just like any other day.
I didn’t really get smashed at my prom. I wasn’t that much of a drinker until I went to college. Also my date sr year sucked. She also blew of her original date after I asked her so I guess she wasn’t that nice of a person anyway. Probably should have taken my ex like she asked.

30

My group of friends shunned the prom. They’re expensive (I’ve heard of parents paying upwards of $1000 for their kid to attend prom). The dresses, tuxedos, food, limos, hotel rooms…it’s all too much. Kids these days spend more on prom than I did on my wedding! The excess is shameful. I mean, wouldn’t we all be better served spending that money on something the class can be proud of 25 years down the road? If each kid in the class put that $1000 toward a hospital, an environmental issue, etc., they could leave something positive for the world upon graduation.

31

Heh. In my school, there simply wasn’t one at all. There were about fifty friends who got together and went out dancing one night, but otherwise nobody missed it.

Of course, this was a school in a pretty poor neighborhood and very academicially inclined. We couldn’t afford any sort of organized sports either. But hey, two people in my homeroom went to Harvard, so we must have been doing something right.

In the city, proms are often considered the province of suburban kids rich enough to afford their own cars and all.

32

Are you supposed to choose your date from the same school year? At my school most people had partners from other years or schools. I’m probably forgetting someone but I think at the time of our graduation there was only one couple among 80 students. Of course others formed and fell apart over the years but it was always an exception rather than the rule.
If it’s such a significant day, asking someone else while you have a girlfriend/boyfriend sitting at home seems a bit odd.

33

I had reserve drill the day after my prom. It was rifle qualification day. Yeah, live fire. :eek: I remember riding in the back of the deuce and a half and falling asleep constantly on the guy’s shoulder next to me on the way from our post in Detroit out to the ANG base. This wasn’t one of those 7-4 reserve days – it lasted into the friggin’ night. At least I was sober by time I had live ammo in my weapon.

34

[QUOTE=Raguleader]

What cracks me up, is I went to my senior Prom (in downtown fracking Dallas, because it would have KILLED them to have a school dance within 20 minutes of the city we went to school in) and marveled at how the place it was held in (Plaza of the Americas) was built, being basically three or four different tall buildings with a roof and windows closing the middle part in, with a skating rink at the intersection between the buildings.
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Ha! The school I teach at had our prom at the Plaza last year, though we had a room.

One thing I would point out is that proms vary in charecter quite a bit from school to school. Dates are really not at all mandatory at ours–lots of people go in packs–and the expense also varies. At ours, tickets are $40/each (that’s subsidized by fundraising over the years) and that includes dinner–lots of kids don’t do the whole limo-corsage-hotel afterwards thing. It’s about 50-50 tuxes and suits on the boys, and the girl’s dresses cover a wide range–“nice dress” is as common as “gown”, and no one wears what we called “formals” when I was in high school. We will reduce ticket prices for kids on free-or-reduced lunch, or just kids we know can’t afford it.

Basically, you can have a more inclusive prom if the people involved in organizing it are committed to that idea.

35

[QUOTE=chowder]
It seems to me that it’s a bit discriminatory in that you have to be asked, I mean there must be some girls/boys that are either unpopular or maybe don’t measure up to the beautiful/handsome sterotype. These latter ones could miss out even tho’ they may have the most charming personality which would beat the shit out of the glamour pusses.
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Ah, but that’s where the trauma comes in, so you can blame everything for the rest of your life on “but I didn’t get asked to the PROM!”

I graduated in the anti-establishment '70s, so our prom was very low-key. I had no romantic life, so went with a friend.

Now: you try and explain Christmas pantomimes to us Yanks!

36

Pantomimes are pretty simple really, you see it gets pretty cold around Christmas in the U.K. so we organise these events so that down on their luck z-list celebrities have somewhere warm to stay, it’s so cute to see their little faces light up as we pretend to laugh at the same jokes they have been telling for 25 years.

37

[QUOTE=kellner]
Are you supposed to choose your date from the same school year?
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You can bring whomever you want. My sister had an older boyfriend and went to his prom when she was in 11th grade. A couple of my friends had younger girl friends who went to a different high school and brought them.

I didn’t go to mine and it never occurred to me to go because I thought that the whole thing was lame beyond belief. I felt kind of bad for the few girls who didn’t get asked who wanted to go because they were nice people and almost asked one but then the thought of attending the thing made me ill. In my day at least, a girl wouldn’t ask a boy but one of her friends would tell you, “You know, Lisa wouldn’t mind if you asked her.”

38

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
The girl will then spend somewhere between $100-300 on a dress, formal. Think satin, lace, ruffles - the ideal princess gown. I’m sure in some areas they spend more. Then you order a boutonniere (two or three flowers on a pin) for your date, in a color which compliments your gown.

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Strange. . . I just went down to the local floral shop and picked up my buccaneer, and when I ordered my tux, had a cummerbund that matched the suit. And both years I hated every minute of it–only bcause I “had to”! It’s that whole superstition that “if you miss it, you’re a loser!” stigma that made me go. If I had my way, I would have had a backyard barbecue with alcohol, and the parents would be invited–control all around (like the prom), but at least the kids can have a beer or two.

And I would have done away with the limo crap too. There’s just too damn much money wasted on a promenade nowadays. But then again, I hate my high school class. It was very stuck-up and ‘90210’. I think I’m the only one that had a clue, and realized I didn’t want to work on Wall Street or for daddy’s brokerage business.

Tripler
Bitter? Nope. Just realistic.

39

[QUOTE=chowder]
WhyNot Didn’t realise that you had to pay for your tickets, I assumed it was free.

It seems to me that it’s a bit discriminatory in that you have to be asked, I mean there must be some girls/boys that are either unpopular or maybe don’t measure up to the beautiful/handsome sterotype.
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Unlike some other respondents, at our school back then you HAD to have a date to get in - tickets were sold as “admit two”, and you would not be allowed to walk through the door without a date.

I suspect that the gay dates probably changed that - the school would rather Jim and James buy two individual tickets than acknowledge them as “dates”. When I was in school, no one was out as gay, even though we all KNEW of at least half a dozen guys who were. It was still denied and the guys we thought were gay had girlfriends and denials. That started to change after I graduated.

[QUOTE=Lynn Bodoni]

In some areas, the kids rent a hotel room for after-prom activities, and these activities generally consist of a lot of drinking and sex, sometimes drugs as well.
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Yeah, you’ve heard me talk about my son, right? Prom baby. (Despite several forms of birth control, I hasten to add!)

[QUOTE=mittu]
Another American tradition that didn’t (as far as I am aware) ever really catch on in England is the Yearbook, from what I understand everyone has their picture taken and underneath the picture there is a list of any notable achievements, a quote, or the fact that they were voted “most likely to go to prison”.
[/QUOTE]

Our yearbooks didn’t have the lists by everyone’s names. The pictures are alphabetical and divided by class, with the seniors getting larger pictures than everyone else. There are other sections devoted to each athletic team, academic club, some pages devoted to the band, the choir and the school play, that sort of thing. One end-of-year ritual is to get as many people as you can to sign your yearbook, usually with some inane words about “You are a realy neet persun. Hope you have a grate summer.” Some of your real friends write actual interesting stuff that is sort of neat to go back and read years later, though.

[QUOTE=kellner]
Are you supposed to choose your date from the same school year?
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Nope, not when I was in school, anyway. In fact, you got extra popularity points for bringing someone from a different school. (In some strange Darwinian way it showed you were enough of a catch to attract someone who wouldn’t even know anyone or have a good time, but thought you were studly enough to go with anyway.)

When I was a sophomore, I went with a senior to his school’s prom, when I was a junior, with a senior to my school’s prom, and as a senior, I brought a scandalously older man (he was 21) to my own prom. That was the babydaddy.

[QUOTE=Manda JO]

Basically, you can have a more inclusive prom if the people involved in organizing it are committed to that idea.
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Absolutely. Mine was, as I said, in 1992 in the whitest white bread suburb imaginable. We were absolutely focused on the 1950’s ideal of things, with drinking and screwing afterwards. I like your ideas better, but really I think I want to build a time machine and be Ludy’s date to the Grad! That sounds so much better than the Prom! :smiley:

40

[QUOTE=Tripler]
I just went down to the local floral shop and picked up my buccaneer
[/QUOTE]
He was your date?