Was The Principle Right To Cancel The Prom ?

[Lewis]

So what do you all think ?

UNIONDALE, New York (AP) -- Brother Kenneth M. Hoagland had heard all the stories about prom-night debauchery at his Long Island high school:

Students putting down $10,000 to rent a party house in the Hamptons.

Pre-prom cocktail parties followed by a trip to the dance in a liquor-loaded limo.

Fathers chartering a boat for their children's late-night "booze cruise."

Enough was enough, Hoagland said. So the principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School canceled the spring prom in a 2,000-word letter to parents this fall.

"It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is rather the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake -- in a word, financial decadence," Hoagland said, fed up with what he called the "bacchanalian aspects."

"Each year it gets worse -- becomes more exaggerated, more expensive, more emotionally traumatic," he said.

"We are withdrawing from the battle and allowing the parents full responsibility. [Kellenberg] is willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy."

The move brought a mixed, albeit passionate, reaction from students and parents at the Roman Catholic school, which is owned by the Society of Mary (Marianists), a religious order of priests and brothers.

"I don't think it's fair, obviously, that they canceled prom," said senior Alyssa Johnson of Westbury. "There are problems with the prom, but I don't think their reasons or the actions they took solved anything."

Hoagland began talking about the future of the prom last spring after 46 Kellenberg seniors made a $10,000 down payment on a $20,000 rental in the Hamptons for a post-prom party.

When school officials found out, they forced the students to cancel the deal; the kids got their money back and the prom went on as planned.

But some parents went ahead and rented a Hamptons house anyway, Hoagland said.

Amy Best, an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at George Mason University in Virginia and the author of "Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture," said this is the first time she has heard of a school canceling the prom for such reasons.

"A lot of people have lamented the growing consumption that surrounds the prom," she said, noting it is not uncommon for students to pay $1,000 on the dance and surrounding folderol: expensive dresses, tuxedo rentals, flowers, limousines, pre- and post-prom parties.

Best pinned some of the blame for the burgeoning costs on parents, who are often willing to open their wallets for whatever their child demands.

"It is a huge misperception that the kids themselves are totally driving this," she said.

Edward Lawson, the father of a Kellenberg senior, said he and other parents are discussing whether to organize a prom without the sponsorship of the 2,500-student school.

"This is my fourth child to go through Kellenberg and I don't think they have a right to judge what goes on after the prom," he said. "They put everybody in the category of drinkers and drug addicts. I don't believe that's the right thing to do."

Some parents waiting to pick up their children on a recent afternoon said they support Hoagland.

"The school has excellent values," said Margaret Cameron of Plainview. "We send our children here because we support the values and the administration of the school and I totally back everything they do."

Hoagland said in an interview that parents, who pay $6,025 in annual tuition, have expressed appreciation for his stern stand.

"For some, it [the letter] was an eye-opener," he said. "Others feel relieved that the pressure is off of them."

Chris Laine, a senior from Rockville Centre, said the cancellation was "unfortunate, but you can't really argue with the facts they present. ... It's just what it's evolved into. It's not what it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago. It's turned into something it wasn't originally intended to be."

Besides, Laine noted, the senior class still has a four-day trip to Disney World scheduled for April.

"We go to all the parks with our friends," Laine said just before hopping into his jet-black Infiniti and driving off to meet friends for an after-school snack.

"We fly down together and stay in the same hotel and so it's not like we're totally losing everything."

 

[lovely]

I think his reasons were excellent.

"It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is rather the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake -- in a word, financial decadence," Hoagland said, fed up with what he called the "bacchanalian aspects."

"Each year it gets worse -- becomes more exaggerated, more expensive, more emotionally traumatic," he said.

"We are withdrawing from the battle and allowing the parents full responsibility. [Kellenberg] is willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy."

 

[Quid]

Meh. If it doesn't happen on prom night it's still likely to happen on some other date.

 

[Quath]

My nephew graduated last year and his school went a different route. Graduation is known as a time of recklessness and kids going wild. So they got together two schools and local businesses and set up a little carnival with free food and games. Parents volunteered to help out run the stuff.

I got stuck in the sumo wrestling section. Man, after 5 hours, that suit is completely soaked in sweat. I tell people it makes great lubrication to get people in it.

Anyway, what brought the teens there was that at the end (5 AM) a car would be raffled off. It was enough that it brough most of the students there.

So I think redirection works better than cancelling an activity entirely.

Quath

 

[guibox]

Though I applaud the principal's guts and that he is taking a rightful stand, I'm not sure how prom is a problem. I am a teacher in a Christian school, and we don't have that much problems with the after grad party (though it has happened in the past that some of our students went out boozing or brought booze to their party) but we have made it known that the after grad party on Saturday night is outside the school and to be chaperoned by parents.

Hence, what goes on there is parental, not school responsibility.

However, this doesn't, nor should it affect the grad service before. Were this stuff going on in the school at the prom itself, I think the principal would be completely justified in his actions.

To me, the decision is more out of principle then pragmaticism. Regardless, I appreciate his stand.

 

[Muad'Dib]

I do not think he made the right decision. A way to control the expenditures and behavior of the students instead of an outright cancellation would have been more appropriate. This way they really aren't learning anything. It doesn't teach them how to act, it only teaches them to resent authority.

But perhaps I just don't understand the extent of prom activity. I felt no desire to go to my high school prom. :-?

 

[Lewis]

I really don't know what to think about it. I understand that teenagers can do some crazy stuff, I know I sure did. I still don't know what to make of his move.

 

[Steve]

I think it is a prime example of the fruits of post-Vatican 2 Roman Catholicism. The "anything goes" philosophy, combined with first-rank Modernism is now checking in, and the chickens have come home to roost. I am not at all surprised by any of it.

Wouldn't have happened 30 years ago. Any of it.