Prom: The Perfect Night Or An "Antiquated Mating Ritual?"*

The op-ed piece I chose was not so much a piece as it was an opinion debate made up of several pieces each by different people with various points of view on the subject. It was called Prom Excess, Indignities, and flashbacks. As you can imagine, this debate talks about proms and whether or not they are worth all the trouble. Now, the views on the prom have always been clear. There is the group that sees it as the perfect night, those who see it as cheesy tradition they will still go to, and those who think that it is an “antiquated mating ritual… [where you] get all dressed up, so some Drakkar Noir-wearing dexter with a boner can feel you up while you're forced to listen to a band that, by definition, blows.”* In this article different people such as a teacher, a principal, a comedian, and a columnist expressed their opinions on the infamous senior prom. I won’t list all their views because I think that the different sides are clear and it would be a waste of time to summarize the article as it is available for anyone to read. However I would like to express my opinion n this subject.

Prom. One night that for many people defines the entire high school experience: the popularity contest, the rumor patrol, the dress to impress, etc. It is made up of many parts, the planning of the prom, the quest for the perfect dress, the search for the correct date, the transportation to and from the prom, and finally, the final moment: the perfect night. But in my opinion it is just that, one night. One night that people think is the entity of four years. This is a view I do not share. The prom, for me, is a very cool experience because it is a chance to say goodbye to the people you’ve been with, to the life style you’ve had. However it is most definitely not as big a deal as people say it is. In reality it all goes by in a blur while you look around and feel nostalgic for every little thing. Should it be exterminated though? Many people say that it should be because it is just a chance for teenagers to drink and it encourages promiscuity. These people that advocate the ideas that prom is this big illegal chaos are making too big a deal out of it. It is just a dance where “we’ll dance, we’ll kiss, we’ll come home. Not quite the crisis situation you imagine.”* I think that the prom should go in and happen regardless of the state of the economy or the swine flu “pandemic” because there is no evil that comes from it and the prom is a tradition that however pointless most high school kids look forwards to. Should it be have the importance that it does, though? I think that it shouldn’t. But then again that is my opinion and it really doesn’t harm me that other people think of it as the most important event of their life. I should just shrug it off and let them notice how silly that idea is all on their own.

*10 Things I Hate About You, 1999.