why are proms a thing now?

[reytmardy]

This seems to be an expensive and sometimes stressful occasion at a time when the kids are already exhausted.
We left school without a prom and we're happy . Please educate me on this. I have a 13 year old thanks

Did those who had balls go to public schools?

Not at all.
Late 80s, early 90s - a very ordinary South Yorkshire comprehensive.

But posh schools go one further - leavers ball (and parents get invited!)

Not all private schools do that at all.
Never heard of any school inviting parents - what a nightmare for the kids!

Those who say this is nothing new as they had one, and they left school 13, 14, 15 years ago - I still think of that as very recent.

1989 - GCSE 'leavers disco' ; 1991 - A Level 'ball'

So much longer than 13 years ago!

Not all private schools do that at all.
Never heard of any school inviting parents - what a nightmare for the kids!

Me neither and I both attended and taught at private schools. There’s no way we would have went if our parents attended too! Ewwwww

I went to the Sixth Form Ball in 1978. A glorified disco really but reasonably dressy. My dress was calf-length, cotton I think and tiny pink flowers on a black base with a frilled petticoat showing an inch below, as was the fashion. The headmistress wore floor-length. It was a girls' boarding school and the boys came from the equivalent locally. The Ball was in the Dining Hall, double height with wood panelling and windows to the ceiling so rather nice. Staff on the doors but vodka smuggled in by some through the locker room windows. 😁 It was really hot, just two years after the drought, and soon was shirt sleeves order so we didn't do a lot with hair and make up - it wasn't the fashion for teenagers then anyway.

We had one coming up 15 years ago, so they aren't new. However, although we got nice dresses and did each others hair, hired a limo etc it was nothing like the ones now! Seems like a lot of pressure and money for just one night.

School "proms" are not a "new thing". But they seem to be a way of making the most "financially secure" parents feel smug.

All my children, foster children and adopted children enjoyed their school proms. They were kitted out in dresses/suits we could afford. The kids from financially affluent families went completely overboard tbh. These children are 16.... They will gravitate towards those on their own level and rightly so. I fail to see why some parents spend £1000's on a dress/suit to be worn once! 😱

Each to their own I guess. Nobody is better than anyone else. I wouldn't consider a limo to pick my prom Princess/Prince up, and neither would my children. The more affluent families seem to think it's obligatary, together with a photo shoot to mark the occasion, (and post over SM). Whatever 🤷‍♀️

My youngest has her prom next week. She is happy to wear her sisters prom dress. I have told her im happy to take her prom dress shopping. She insists her sisters prom dress will be just fine - and it will. I will be glad when my children's prom days are over tbh. It seems to get more and more competative every year.

(I would love to post pics of the most outlandish, meringue looking, and completely off the wall dresses some parents relish seeing their 16 year olds in - thinking they are the bees knees 🙄 But I won't because it's too outing for me and very humiliating for the poor school leavers).

I had one in 97 for sixth form. It was a bit naff then but now it's even worse.

My school had one in the early 90s. I didn't go. I'm told that the boys all turned up in school uniform minus ties, and one of them got drunk and urinated against a shop window in the high street.