Principal Cancels 'Bacchanalian' Prom

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nbcrusader said:
A principal should not be taking the time to police, enforce standards or worry about a dance

last i checked it was, indeed, the principal's job to police school functions.

if he was really worried, rather than simply canceling the prom, have it at the school like they used to. or have everyone meet at the school and take them to the prom's hall in school busses.

footloose4.jpg


let them dance.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:


last i checked it was, indeed, the principal's job to police school functions.

if he was really worried, rather than simply canceling the prom, have it at the school like they used to. or have everyone meet at the school and take them to the prom's hall in school busses.


This is a good idea. There's a way to have a prom without too much craziness.
 
nbcrusader said:
OK - Kevin Bacon can host a party in a barn for the kids.


as long as he doesn't whip it out, as he seems to be prone to do :D

They should be allowed to have a prom but a simple one..I wonder how many of them would still go. Or maybe the parents should all sit around and compare bank statements or something..
 
At my high school the parents organized a huge, chaperoned alcohol-free after prom party that lasted until dawn. When the sun came up they had raffles for prizes like a big-screen TV and even a car, I believe, and you had to be present to win. Practically everyone went. You didn't even have to have gone to the prom to go, and unlike prom you didn't have to go with a date.

Most high schools where I'm from do this. Seems like a simple solution, doesn't it, rather than canceling the prom and punishing everyone because of the actions of some spoiled brats and clueless parents.
 
Bono's shades said:
At my high school the parents organized a huge, chaperoned alcohol-free after prom party that lasted until dawn. When the sun came up they had raffles for prizes like a big-screen TV and even a car, I believe, and you had to be present to win. Practically everyone went. You didn't even have to have gone to the prom to go, and unlike prom you didn't have to go with a date.

:yes:. We did the same thing at my school.

Originally posted by Bono's shades
Most high schools where I'm from do this. Seems like a simple solution, doesn't it, rather than canceling the prom and punishing everyone because of the actions of some spoiled brats and clueless parents.

:up:. Exactly.

And LOL at the "Footloose" references :p.

Angela
 
Financeguy, in my town we were so poor we went to our prom wearing barrels. But no, wait, that was later, that was the good times. Our prom was held IN a barrel, in the middle of a rainy highway. Oh, good times.
 
Last tango for Chaminade prom
BY CAROL EISENBERG
STAFF WRITER

December 2, 2005


Chaminade has become the second Catholic high school on Long Island to cancel its junior and senior proms because "the culture has become so toxic, it can't be reformed," its top administrator said.

The announcement Wednesday by the elite boys school in Mineola stunned the 1,625 students who had been ordered to gather for a special study hall. Only six weeks ago, Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, run by the same Marianist order, called off its prom because of what its principal called "financial decadence." Last spring, 46 seniors there put down $10,000 to rent a Hamptons house for a post-prom party.

"The prom itself is not the issue, it's the excessiveness that surrounds it," said the Rev. James C. Williams, president of Chaminade, the prestigious school that has graduated notables such as television commentator Bill O'Reilly, former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, and actor Brian Dennehy.

"It's all about who has the biggest limousine. Who has the most over-the-top evening planned. Who has the best story to tell when the event is over. Can anyone really claim any of this is compatible with maturity, let alone the Gospel? If you talk to school administrators, everyone is looking at this now."

Williams said that kids routinely spend $1,000 each for tuxes, limousines and flowers -- and often have parties before and after the prom involving alcohol and sex.

"Some may choose to ignore the real issues," he said in a letter to parents about the cancellation. "After all 'let boys be boys.' We will not be part of that. At Chaminade, we are about creating men of integrity and value."

For some students, the news was nothing short of catastrophic. "To have this taken from us is like a dagger to the heart," said Shane Abrams, 17, a senior from Oceanside. "It's a shock. It's a big loss."

However, parent Donald Pfail of Garden City, with two sons at the school, applauded the decision despite their disappointment. "Face it," he said, "things have gotten out of hand with proms on Long Island. They're accidents waiting to happen."

Several other Catholic school principals acknowledged those concerns and said they were looking at whether to continue with the proms. While the issue has reached the boiling point with Catholic educators, it has not yet prompted prom cancellations at public schools.

"If schools canceled their proms, does that necessarily mean that the sort of post-prom activities we're all concerned about would stop? Probably not," said Hank Grishman, superintendent in Jericho.

Talk among students at Chaminade yesterday centered on prom alternatives -- such as a faculty-suggested trip to an amusement park -- even as a petition circulated to save the big event.

Tim Graham, 15, a sophomore from Amityville, said he "definitely" planned to sign the petition. "I had two cousins who went to Chaminade, and I would always go to their before-prom parties. I was always looking forward to my own."

But protest or no, Williams said he would not budge on the decision. "What made a prom so sacred that we can't even talk about it?" he asked yesterday. He has asked students for alternatives. "I hear kids talking about mounting a petition, and I say to them, 'Why do you need a petition? Come talk to me.' "

Several students were doing just that when a reporter called. In interviews, a few of them acknowledged past excesses, but nonetheless opposed the ban. Others supported the cancellation, saying classmates had abused the prom tradition.

"The prom itself no longer matters to these kids," said Sean Rober, 16, a sophomore. "It has become a vehicle for night-long debauchery, not a fun rite of passage to end the year with, and so it was canceled. I think it was the right thing."

Another sophomore, James Rizzi, 16, of Westbury, agreed. "I feel it's really in our best interests. To me it's not really consistent with what Chaminade has taught us for four years."
 
I'll trust the Catholic Church's moral authority on these kind of events when it cancels its "auction" fundraisers for adults. I'm not sure how common they are around the country, but they are common around here. I worked them a couple years when I was in high school (since they catered solely to the rich, they were good tippers :sexywink: ). But I always questioned the "morality" of putting on such a "decadent" event as those, particularly when over half the people getting out to their cars were falling over drunk.

But it's okay if the school administration is whoring itself out for money, right?

Melon
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
kellenberg is one of the cheapest private schools on long island. tuition is around $6,000 per year. the kids that attend are upper-middle class to perhaps low "high" class. they are not even close to the "extremly wealthy."

all this cancelation will do is force the kids to go out and set up their own events. this solved nothing, and only hurt the majority of those who simply want to enjoy their prom. so the "popular kids" will still have their senior events, while the rest will be left to small gatherings if anything at all.

:up: good job jackass.

ok... now chaminade IS a school with a large number of the "extremely wealthy," based on it's reputation, while still having a large population of regular old middle class kids.

the school it's self is absolutely looooooooaded from alumni donations. just this past year they bought out a car dealership that neighbored the school in order to build a state of the art athletics facility.

my feelings on their decisioin to cancel are the same as they were about kellenberg.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
Chaminade, the prestigious school that has graduated notables such as television commentator Bill O'Reilly, former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, and actor Brian Dennehy.

On a side note, didn't Bill O'Reilly try and parade some kind of tough, blue-collar roots by claiming he was from Levittown? :wink:

Melon
 
melon said:
I'll trust the Catholic Church's moral authority on these kind of events when it cancels its "auction" fundraisers for adults. I'm not sure how common they are around the country, but they are common around here. I worked them a couple years when I was in high school (since they catered solely to the rich, they were good tippers :sexywink: ). But I always questioned the "morality" of putting on such a "decadent" event as those, particularly when over half the people getting out to their cars were falling over drunk.

But it's okay if the school administration is whoring itself out for money, right?

Melon


whoring itself out for money is a catholic tradition... proms, i guess, are not :shrug:


and fall down drunk does not describe what goes on at many of the events you're talking about... for i've attended quite a few myself.
 
melon said:


On a side note, didn't Bill O'Reilly try and parade some kind of tough, blue-collar roots by claiming he was from Levittown? :wink:

Melon

lol... to be fair, he was from levittown, but certainly didn't go to public school. there are kids from my home town, whom certainly were regular old middle class kids, who went to chaminade as well. :shrug: who knows

a few days a week i take the train to work instead of sitting in rush hour traffic... and there's about 5 or 6 kids who take the same train i take to go over to chaminade. it has a great reputation, and there are certainly wealthy students there, but there are regular old schmo's like you and me there as well.
 
Unfortunately here in Australia, schools have now taken on the prom (or here, formal) tradition and often the Sunday paper around June (which is the middle of teh scholastic year, so I don't know why the schools have their formals then - what if the students fail??:scratch: ) are full of photos of kids all dressed up, and some of the girls have dresses with splits to the navel lower than Paris Hilton. Those are the Catholic ones. :lol:

Back in my day, proms were something only seen in John Hughes movies :mad: (Molly Ringwald :drool: )

My povvo state school had an end of year dinner. I was going to go unless I was told I would have to sit with teachers. I preferred a night in in front of the telly.
 
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