Posted on 10/17/2005 7:21:55 AM PDT by Millee
Brother Kenneth Hoagland had heard all the stories about prom-night debauchery at his Long Island high school: students putting down $10,000 to rent a party house in the Hamptons; pre-prom cocktail parties followed by a trip to the dance in a liquor-loaded limo; fathers chartering a boat for their children's late-night "booze cruise."
Enough was enough, Hoagland said. So the principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School canceled the spring prom in a 2,000- word letter to parents.
"It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is, rather, the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake - in a word, financial decadence," Hoagland said, fed up with what he called the "bacchanalian aspects."
"Each year, it gets worse - becomes more exaggerated, more expensive, more emotionally traumatic," he added. "We are withdrawing from the battle and allowing the parents full responsibility. (The school) is willing to sponsor a prom but not an orgy."
The move brought a mixed, albeit passionate, reaction from students and parents at the Roman Catholic school, which is owned by the Society of Mary (Marianists), a religious order of priests and brothers.
"I don't think it's fair, obviously, that they canceled prom," said senior Alyssa Johnson of Westbury. "There are problems with the prom, but I don't think their reasons or the actions they took solved anything."
Hoagland began talking about the future of the prom last spring after 46 Kellenberg seniors made a $10,000 down payment on a $20,000 rental in the Hamptons for a post-prom party. When school officials found out, they forced the students to cancel the deal; the kids got their money back, and the prom went on as planned. But some parents went ahead and rented a Hamptons house anyway, Hoagland said.
Amy Best, an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at George Mason University in Virginia and the author of "Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture," said this is the first time she has heard of a school canceling the prom for such reasons.
"A lot of people have lamented the growing consumption that surrounds the prom," she said, noting it is not uncommon for students to pay $1,000 on the dance and surrounding costs: expensive dresses, tuxedo rentals, flowers, limousines, pre- and post-prom parties.
Edward Lawson, the father of a Kellenberg senior, said he and other parents are discussing whether to organize a prom without the sponsorship of the 2,500- student school.
"I don't think they have a right to judge what goes on after the prom," he said. "They put everybody in the category of drinkers and drug addicts."
Some parents picking up their children on a recent afternoon said they support Hoagland.
"The school has excellent values," said Margaret Cameron of Plainview, N.Y. "We send our children here because we support the values and the administration of the school, and I totally back everything they do."
These people wouldn't recognize a principle if it jumped up and bit them on the tush.
This summer my wife and I had the births of our twin daughters. I was talking to the nurses at the hospital and they were commenting on how it was finally quiet after all the "Homecoming babies". 9 months after homecoming and prom the get a spurt of 17 to 19 year olds giving birth.
"Primarily" means something, too. Kids have been drinking and fooling around for ages, but going out of their way to flaunt it by renting a beach house and paying limo drivers to turn a blind eye to underage drinking is across the line. Kids sneak around cause they know it's wrong. When the kids are brash and upfront, they need to learn a lesson.
SD
You and I are on the same page!
I'd rather follow the Man who told us:
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Does it make any difference to you that this is a private school? Why does this school not have the right to cancel/limit an event that they believe (rightly or wrongly) leads to behavior absolutely contradictory to the moral code of the school?
Don't get lost in a thread? Check yourself there, buddy...
Read post #161 again...more slowly this time...also, before "jumping in", you might want to familiarize yourself with some of the back and forth...you seemed to have missed it.
You came up with this gem:
"If you are secure in your faith, you wouldn't have been so jumpy at some valid criticism --not of all Catholicism but of some of the rich Kennedy-type Catholics this poster mentioned.? You not only gave a shot...but you clearly misunderstood the poster #161, who by the way is NOT
"another Catholic poster" as you claimed. Again, if you had understood the post, you would have seen 161 as a former, and obviously bitter Catholic....
"After all, did the faith fail the people or did the people fail the faith?"
Duh? You seem to be unable to comprehend what this means...maybe it will come to you later on, as the meaning has obviously escaped you.
Well, duh
sick'nin', ain't it?
The prom September letter was awsome!
I really like this Brother Kenneth! Too bad there aren't more like him!
Good point!
Ditto here. I graduated in 1959, almost the same exact senario. I only had one suit and sure as hell couldn't have rented a tux, if I could have found one without driving 50 miles into Sac to get it.
So, if you think wealth is immoral, the the next socialist
redistribution scheme that comes along, you would be in
favor of because having money is sinful anyway right?
The Rich shouldn't have that money anyway, evil bas____!
Do you wear sackcloth and ashes and walk all around town?
Have you given up your automobile and TV? Or do you just
set an arbitrary limit in your own mind as to what is
excessive affluence for the other guy?
Your piety is enviable but your class warfare is wrong in
a prosperous capitalist society.
What the students choose to do is their decision. However, for some reason I sense you have a problem with a church choosing not to enable their behavior by having a school sponsored prom? If you would read the first letter on the website, drunk seniors got in a fight with a wedding party which made the school liable.
If they're going go wild get drunk, waste mommy and daddy's money, fine, let the little rugrats have at it. The pastor however has made a wise decision (and a Christian one) not to be associated with it
You better go scan this thread and READ what I have written. It is pretty clear you have latched onto one sentence and ran with it... get a little more informed and get back to me.
Go to the website of the school and click on the September Prom letter.
It might give you a better perspective about what happened and why Brother Kenneth did what he did.
I say more power to him.
And if little Johnny (who still can't read) wants to drink3 quarts of booze and drive his new BMW into a tree at 4AM, by cracky, he's gonna!
And you wonder where the next generation of leftists will come from! The PROM!
SD
Aren't a lot of Catholics conservatives?
>to expect the schools to discipline their children for them is unrealistic.<
Very simple.A Christian School should not tolerate this behavior.It sends a message to parents and students both.If they knew it would not be tolerated it would not be a problem.It is a Christian School in name only if it doesn't take a stand.It is about standing up for God's word and the schools reputation.
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