Prom is a formal dance that is held at the end of the year usually at a high school. Prom is different from all the other held dances due to it being formal but should prom be pushing the pressure of having to be that formal. Talking to many students and adults who have attended prom there were multiple viewpoints on how it is set up and how formal it should or shouldn’t be. With all the stress, money and time put into this formal dance is it really worth it?

Prom pushes the idea of being formal over the top. Dances are meant to be fun, have a good time with your friends.  On the day, we have a regular school schedule, but i’m planning to not attend school that day because I’m worried I might won’t have enough time to get ready for prom,” stated by Asian_Girl2009. Students are willing to skip school so that they can get their hair and nails done. Students feel pressured to look their very best for a school dance. Natalie Naranjo a writer for Mask stated “After watching prom movies over and over again, and studying magazines filled with seemingly flawless girls, the pressure builds for teenage girls to look a certain way.” Having the pressure to look perfect is creating a problem for many teens. With the pressure from your classmates and friends students get stressed and start to judge them self. They try to become a more perfect version of who they actually are. This can heighten many self esteem issues. If the theme of prom didn’t push for such perfection it could actually be a great, non stressful time.

Students are willing to spend an outrageous amount of money for a one night activity. This adds onto the perfection and formal part of prom.“Teens are spending an average of more than $600 on prom, according to Yahoo Style’s 2017 Prom Across America survey” stated in USA Today Network article written by Mary Bowerman. That includes dress/tux, hair, ride and dinner. On average a girl will spend at least two hundred dollars on a dress. Renting a tux cost roughly around one hundred dollars. You would think that parents would not want to have their child to spend that much but according to USA Today parents are willing to spend more money. As for prom itself schools spend the most money on prom than any other dance. For prom students at GHS, as juniors, are asked to sell tickets to raise money to pay for the expenses. This is to rent a place out, decorations and a DJ. Talking to multiple students at GHS many stated that the money spent on prom is not worth it because it is just like any other dance that people just try to make fancy. “Prom is basically a more expensive Homecoming,” stated by Sophia Heisler.

Prom lasts, at the maximum, about three hours. This means that students are willing to spend an entire day, even miss school for a three hour dance. They will spend six hundred dollars for a dance that is only a few hours. Once the dance is over there is after prom and at this event may people just wear sweatpants and get comfy for all the activities. They only wear their dress to prom and then it’s just something that hangs in the back of their closet. Many people argue that prom is worth it because it creates memories that you will never forget. It’s a time to be with your friends and have a good time. Most people can agree with those reasons but should it be putting as much stress on students and should students be going above and beyond to be “perfect”.

Prom is pushing the formal part to far. Students should be able to make memories and have a good time without spending more than a couple hundred dollars on things that will last for three hours. Students shouldn’t have to worry if they look nice enough to show up to this dance that is supposed to be a “fun time”. Prom should stop pushing kids to be perfect and just push the idea of a fun dance that can get everyone together for their last couple years of highschool.