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"Oh, dude, they just killed the prom!" "That's harsh! Hey, ya want to get Heather and Ashley and fly to Bermuda for the weekend?" "Dude, that is rockin'!" |
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."
I know just such a parent....a single mom who describes her daughter as "doable".....as soon as I heard her use that description, I ended our friendship...
in short - yep.
Until posted otherwise I have no reason to doubt it is a good Christian school that presents certain moral values. A concern, and value, besides the sex/drugs/booze is that of money. Love of money is the root of the evil. If you don't have money, except for sex, you won't very well have access to the avenue of the other things will you? And in today's day and age, money is even required (in a roundabout way) for access to sex as well. Just my two cents
However, I believe if you read the March letter on their website, you should be able to see what the pastor was talking about as it pertains to money
The flaunting of affluence is a greater moral sin than individual hedonist behaviors. It fundamentally refuses the acceptance of the reality that all things belong to God, not us, and we are merely caretakers of them. When we use those gifts for nothing but our own selfishness and greed, we defy everything that is right.
It is not that individual hedonistic behaviors are right, however failings of the flesh are less of a sin that failings of the spirit.
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"Oh, dude, they just killed the prom!" "That's harsh! Hey, ya want to get Heather and Ashley and fly to Bermuda for the weekend?" "Dude, that is rockin'!" |
True.
I still think the money argument is a bad one - he is correct on the morality. The morality aspect is more than reason enough to cancel the event.
Well said.
i think that someone who gives a wink-wink nod-nod to sinfulbehavior whilst complaining about what someone does with their money IS a jerk.
I am entitled to my opinion. And the free expression thereof.
and obiously he didn't do a good job of imparting Christian values if sex/booze/drugs is a problem.
i didn't say that ehe did the wrong thing - I just think that, if the article's slant is correct, that he did it for the wrong reasons.
if his major problem was the behavior, then why mention other aspects?
i think that the principal is probably just stating that the school's attempts to keep the prom as booze/dope/sex-free as possible, cannot possibly compete with parents who have the financial means to circumvent any strictures that the school may put upon the event. so rather than be associated with it, they decided to cancel it. i laud him for it. my daughter attends an all girls catholic prep school, and i see parents, like those featured in this piece, all the time.
"The morality aspect is more than reason enough to cancel the event."
True.
I believe the letter written to the parent's is on the school website, as noted by a previous poster.
"School cancels prom "orgy""
Maybe the parents can get the Minnesota Vikings to arrange a Prom Cruise?
Read the two letters for the whole statement and story, then I think you will rethink your statement.
Hey this might be an idea for a Pimp Daddy reality show.
Prom Party Gone Wild
Sounds like a money maker.
Senior photos have become just as ridiculous. Students or parents want to spend a thousand dollars on photos that would make anyone cringe in a few years. Yes they will all be hidden away soon enough, but they all compete for buying the expensive photo of the not-ready-for-prime-time geeky gawky kid.
Read the two letters posted on the school website, then I think you will change your mind. Haven't we learned that the AP is not reliable by now?
believe it or not, as a homeschooler, one of the most often asked, stupid questions i get is: "what about prom? your kids won't be able to go to prom?!"
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