I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately due to the LBHS prom date nearing its arrival. I hear from many of the students the same thing I once thought when I was a senior which was: "I need to go to my senior prom. It's the only one I will be a part of and I will probably regret it if I don't go."
A few questions for you: Why do we as teenagers feel this way? What or who has ingrained this into our minds? What does the "high school prom" really represent?
I'm not really sure the answers to those questions and perhaps you can enlighten me; however, allow me to James Joyce you with a few "stream of consciousness" thoughts.
I believe teenagers feel that the prom is some sort of rite of passage. An event that culminates the end of a journey and the beginning of another. Perhaps this is why many of them use that night as their "first time"......if you know what I mean. They are done with high school and ready to begin their new journey and for some reason they feel that the prom is their last chance to be juvenile and maybe their first chance to be an adult.
I don't know if there are too many events in our life where you can get that double entendre. If you will allow me a little generalization. Non-Mormons look at the high school prom as their exit from youth and entrance into adulthood whereas Mormons look at their wedding night as the same rite of passage. Am I over-generalizing? Perhaps.....but I think you get the point.
I wish I would've understood this concept as a senior. I went to my high school prom but I definitely didn't want to. I felt an outside and mostly an inner pressure to attend because I thought I should. I went with a girl that I really liked but knew deep down that she didn't reciprocate my "pubescent enthusiasm." (sidenote: We spent most of the night make idle chit-chat, dancing a few dances, feeling uncomfortable in our clothes and with each other, and eventually hugging on the doorstep well inside my curfew).
Okay, I know what you're thinking....These thoughts are the ramblings of a bitter adult who is still upset that he didn't get any on prom night....and you might be right, but that's besides the point.
What I really want to get across to my students is in the short and long run, going or not going to your high school prom will have no bearing whatsoever on your life. They will feel pressure to go and they will probably end up going with or without a date but in the end, it is just a bunch of people spending too much time and too much money to impress people that they don't even like and won't ever talk to again.
Yea, I'm probably just bitter.
Question is, Do any of you feel the same way or was I just a foolish, young kid who didn't know how to use prom night to satisfy his buildup of testosterone?
Nevermind...don't answer that.
A few questions for you: Why do we as teenagers feel this way? What or who has ingrained this into our minds? What does the "high school prom" really represent?
I'm not really sure the answers to those questions and perhaps you can enlighten me; however, allow me to James Joyce you with a few "stream of consciousness" thoughts.
I believe teenagers feel that the prom is some sort of rite of passage. An event that culminates the end of a journey and the beginning of another. Perhaps this is why many of them use that night as their "first time"......if you know what I mean. They are done with high school and ready to begin their new journey and for some reason they feel that the prom is their last chance to be juvenile and maybe their first chance to be an adult.
I don't know if there are too many events in our life where you can get that double entendre. If you will allow me a little generalization. Non-Mormons look at the high school prom as their exit from youth and entrance into adulthood whereas Mormons look at their wedding night as the same rite of passage. Am I over-generalizing? Perhaps.....but I think you get the point.
I wish I would've understood this concept as a senior. I went to my high school prom but I definitely didn't want to. I felt an outside and mostly an inner pressure to attend because I thought I should. I went with a girl that I really liked but knew deep down that she didn't reciprocate my "pubescent enthusiasm." (sidenote: We spent most of the night make idle chit-chat, dancing a few dances, feeling uncomfortable in our clothes and with each other, and eventually hugging on the doorstep well inside my curfew).
Okay, I know what you're thinking....These thoughts are the ramblings of a bitter adult who is still upset that he didn't get any on prom night....and you might be right, but that's besides the point.
What I really want to get across to my students is in the short and long run, going or not going to your high school prom will have no bearing whatsoever on your life. They will feel pressure to go and they will probably end up going with or without a date but in the end, it is just a bunch of people spending too much time and too much money to impress people that they don't even like and won't ever talk to again.
Yea, I'm probably just bitter.
Question is, Do any of you feel the same way or was I just a foolish, young kid who didn't know how to use prom night to satisfy his buildup of testosterone?
Nevermind...don't answer that.
6 comments:
I agree about Prom being over rated...although I'm not sure what you mean by Prom night being the "first time." First time for what. Maybe you can expand. First time I spent $150 on a dance? First time I spent $100 on dinner? First time I spent $80 on a limo? First time I wore a tux? First time you couldn't see my face in the pictures cause the flash reflected off my braces? Yes you're right. It was the first time for all those things. What's the point. Last year at my high school reunion, I saw my prom date. She was there dressed in a suit with her girlfired, whining about President Bush. Glad I spent $400 that night.
The phycho-babble employed in your email is reflective of a high school kid's desire to extract money from a parent. For those of you without teenagers, just wait you will soon see that what I am saying is true.
As for you Jon, you should have gone with a gal that had always been a friend even though you may not have been physically attracted to her. You would have had a better time and the girl would not have felt like she had to "settle" for a prom date.
Kyle, print it out and give it to your children at a young age. Maybe you can save some money with the younger children. I have already employed this strategy. My four year old swears he will never ask for money for the prom because he's "not going to make the same mistake as daddy."
I think we all watched too many John Hughes' movies growing up. I think whole social aspect of High School is over rated anyway. This is coming from someone that was fairly active in High School, sports and student government. I'm seriously considering home schooling for my kid. The only drawback is not being involved in organized sports. I definitely feel there are things I experienced in organized athletics that have helped he deal with life after High School. My Prom was uncomfortable also. I asked out the girl that I had a crush on for years. We knew each other and were friends, but I knew that she wanted to go with a different guy.
I agree with this post....it epitomizes the age old cliche saying of:
"If I had known then what I know now."
If only.
P.S. That picture doesn't even look like Kristen blahblah(can't spell her last name) And isn't she in her 20's--let's get some teenagers posing for the Prom magazines please! Seriously--it's all about the marketing.
P.P.S. I'm glad you didn't "get any" on prom not.
Okay I MEANT to say "prom night" NOT "not"! That's kinda funny.
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