American Prom, in Review

Recently while traveling I was listening to This American Life from NPR. They were mulling over the American tradition of Prom. Besides being fascinated by the subject, having lived through the Public High School experience, (By the way, I didn’t go to prom. My logic? Well, I was saving for a missions trip and just couldn’t fathom spending the money involved!) I was also appalled, and a little scared. And I started to realize I was also developing a nervous twitch in my eye, as I thought about my sweet little daughter ever experienced this ridiculous right of passage.

The twitch began as the narrator was talking about covering a local prom in Chicago. Apparently at this prom, all of the “serious” couples go out on the dance floor with a chair. The girl sits in the chair, moves her dress up to expose a garter…yes..a garter! And the boy has to remove the garter with his teeth. Okay…I’ve seen this at weddings (still tacky and just a little too much information for me)…but we are talking about HIGH SCHOOL PROM. The ultra-liberal-NPR reporter was also a bit taken back by this and approached teachers to ask their response to such a display. He was told (by the teachers) to basically get his head out of the sand, this had been going on for years!

I know girls really look forward to having this pseudo-wedding day in highschools all across the country, and boys look forward to the pseudo-wedding night in highschools all across the country. I guess not much has changed in that aspect in the past few decades. But, as a Believer, I have to tell ya, I got issues with this. And this event takes on a whole new light when you become a parent…and my children (in womb included) aren’t even near this experience yet.

At this point, maybe we’ll take Conrad’s preferred plan and just send them to India.