Students at Pearl River prepare for their Big Night - on a Wednesday instead of a Friday or Saturday. Image from the NYTimes.com -- http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/04/14/nyregion/14prom_CA0/14prom_CA0-articleLarge.jpg
This week, the New York Times reported that Pearl River High School of Pearl River, NJ held junior prom on a Wednesday and will hold senior prom on a Sunday in efforts to curb after partying.
This week, the New York Times reported that Pearl River High School of Pearl River, NJ held junior prom on a Wednesday and will hold senior prom on a Sunday in efforts to curb after partying.
Other schools around the country have held proms on weekdays for economic benefits such as cheaper social hall rental, according to the article, but students may miss school the following day. PRHS, on the other hand, requires all students to arrive by 7:34 AM the following day for class or they will not be able to make up academic work or participate in athletic activities. Harsh, huh? One student decided against going to his prom at RPHS because he "knows [his] teachers are going to be giving work that night. It just kind of kills it."
In the defense of the school, their PTA will be serving a fun breakfast in the morning followed by field day like activities until noon (then classes start up again) and partying had gotten very much out of hand. PRHS Principal Bill Furdon told the Times that, "By 10 PM, students were checking their watches and edging towards the exit to run out as soon as the King and Queen were crowned. Many pooled their money to charter party buses to carry them to Manhattan or the shore."
OK, so it was pretty out of hand. But I still think there are other ways to deal with a mess of after partying. In my town, we have curfew at 11 PM. When you leave the Junior Prom, the police on duty take your name or give you a slip of paper saying that you've left and are on your way home. All the cops know that it doesn't take all night to get home. There's a similar process for Senior Prom except that it's a pass to our town's Post Prom.
Post Prom: Parents of Senior students spend all year planning a crazy after party with prize drawings all the way until 5 AM for seniors. You don't have to attend the prom to go to Post Prom either. You just have to be a senior or a senior's date to the prom. Both Prom and Post Prom are breathalyzed to avoid the wild partying Furdon's on about and to keep students safe. Plus, Post Prom is free -- the parents do all the work and raise all the money to put together the five-hour party with a top-secret theme and assemble the prizes.
Prizes, prizes, prizes! The longer you stay, the cooler the prizes you can win - like flat screen TVs and laptops. You must be present to win though - meaning you can't skip out at 3 AM if you want the 5 AM prize. When students arrive at the Post Prom location, each senior is given a Senior Pack containing pencils and some prize tickets. The Senior writes his or her name on the tickets which they then deposit into various fishbowls for particular prizes. One participates in activities to win more tickets.
The extra awesome thing about Post Prom is that it rewards good kids. It gives you a place to go even if you otherwise wouldn't have continued your evening. You can win cool prizes and keep celebrating your class. On the flip side, it also keeps students safe.
Racine, WI - the self-proclaimed Prom Capitol of the World - also has a huge Post Prom party (although it makes ours look like a tiny dump). After an alcohol-related incident in 1952, the Rotary Club of Racine decided to create a drug-free, alcohol-free venue where prom-goers could continue celebrating. All 5 of the city's high schools feed into this one major party. The event is even televised to the whole town! (Serving a dual purpose: it gives the city a sort of holiday like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade AND students know that if they're dumb enough to try to go drunk, the whole city will know about it.)
So, lovely New Jersey school - I get your point. Students shouldn't go on mad-dangerous after-party escapades after prom - point taken. But Prom should not be held on a weekday. That's just wrong. There are alternative ways - such as awesome, parent or town run Post Prom parties - to keep kids from getting into trouble. And those are much more celebratory and less derogatory. Put my prom on a Wednesday and you tell me, "Good grief! You are such a bad kid - You don't even deserve that beloved American Tradition of Prom!" Give me a place to go afterwards and you're saying, "Wow - you're growing up. Let's celebrate that! By the way, stick around and win a flatscreen for your dorm room, OK?"
the prom chair
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