Prom always seems like a great idea on paper. But in execution, prom has many problems that never get changed in favor of “keeping the tradition.”

For starters, prom is always expensive and the price becomes less and less justified with each passing year. The $85 ticket used to include a full dinner, today, prom gives the people attending nothing more than snacks to eat throughout the night which means dates will spend even more money on dinner outside the venue.

Prom’s expenses always outweigh any profit that could be made on the dance, which means even when they have the seniors sell chocolates or cookie dough or throw fundraisers, it really doesn’t do much but soften the hit the school’s taking on their wallet. The event’s also a nightmare from a liability standpoint. If students want to drink before the dance, there’s nothing that can really stop them, so if something like a DUI or a crash happens, it looks bad on the school.

While those who advocate prom claim the dance lets students live out their dreams they got when they first watched those 80s John Hughes movies or every TV sitcom in existence, it never really ends up being that good. What should be a magical night to remember ends up being a night of awkward dancing, making small talk and finding out where the after-party is. If a student isn’t the type to socialize with everyone and dance the night away, I would suggest spending $85 elsewhere.

Another glaring issue comes toward the end of the night when awards are given. Rather than honoring students for things like community service or just being a nice person, the awards are just a popularity contest. Awards are always going to be divisive no matter what the subject matter is, but when the categories feature things like “best sense of humor” or “cutest couple,” it adds another thick layer of drama on top of the always-present normal high school drama.
With outrageous prices, accountability issues and great drama, the only real reason that schools continue to do prom is to feed the delusions of grandeur had by a tired senior class.