Prom season is upon us… finally. Prom can be a fun event for some. It’s a chance to get dressed up for a night and go out with your friends, but do you need to go to prom?
The prom experience has so many expectations: fun dancing, partying, great food, and the expectation that the entire night will be perfect. While this may be true for some people, for others, prom is not all it is cracked up to be. That produces the question- if these expectations might not be met, is prom even worth going? Do I have to go to prom in order to say I’ve fulfilled the high school experience?
Long story short, no; you shouldn’t feel pressured to go to prom if you don’t feel compelled. Prom is only one night out of all four years of high school. You have all those years to make so many other memories or go out with your friends.
“No, I don’t think it matters… it’s basically homecoming with less people. It’s not worth spending the money on the ticket and an expensive dress… unless you go for the food, that’s pretty nice,” said senior Hannah Weiner.
Prom isn’t the pinnacle of high school- you don’t necessarily have to attend in order to feel like you’ve made the most out of these four years. Satisfaction can be achieved through many other activities such as friends, extracurriculars, and other fun activities that don’t cost hundreds. Two tickets to attend are $120, plus dress and tuxedo purchases and rentals, makeup and hair appointments and dinner. If you’re going the extra mile, adding a limousine rental is even more expensive. According to Visa Inc.’s annual 2015 prom survey, the average American family will spend around $919 on prom night and prom-posals.
To put that in perspective, that is equivalent to nine tickets to Disney World, or 183 20-piece chicken nugget orders. You could eat nothing but chicken nuggets for a week on the amount of money it takes to go to prom.
From what I’ve seen, it just seems excessive to spend so much money on one night, especially one that you’re not guaranteed to have the best time at.
Prom is 100% optional. If you want to go, then good for you. It just simply isn’t for everyone.
Madeleine Coreen // Co-A&E Editor
