Prom and Circumstance
by Simon
•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind
who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published
every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at
frontporchguardian@gmail.com.
One of the blessings of the severe economic downturn may be the moderation of some of the worst excesses of the annual prom season, which was yearly becoming gaudier. Perhaps this is a good moment for the country to reconsider what the prom has become and what gave rise to its excessive pomp and circumstance.
High school leavers should enjoy this rite of passage, celebrating the completion of years of schooling and adolescent discovery. But, for most school proms, the line between celebration and materialistic excess was crossed many prom nights ago.
Rites of passage, with the guidance of the adult community, are meant to cultivate within our youth some of the values and responsibilities of emerging adulthood.
This is why the prom and related events are planned by students, with prom night akin to a quasi-adult stepping-out, with fancy dress and some of the usual parental restrictions on nights-out relaxed, but not abandoned.
Proms also reflect prevailing social attitudes and mores. Most of us have seen stories chronicling racially segregated proms at high schools in the United States and attempts to jettison these lingering vestiges of Jim Crow decades after the legal structures supporting segregation were dismantled.
