<p>This stuff makes me glad I don’t live in Long Island. A $20,000 post-prom party for 46 out of approximately 350 kids??? An orgy indeed.</p>
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<p>Wow. It’s hard to believe that stuff like that goes on 2 or 3 states over. That’s just weird.</p>
<p>I’m with Hoaglund. And I think they should lose the 4-day trip to Disneyworld as well. Where are the values? ~MeanMom</p>
<p>Wow. My S’s prom (heavily chaperoned by teachers) was followed by a walk to the cinema for the latest instalment of Star Wars. Afterwards, kids called their parents to come pick them up at the cinema.</p>
<p><cough cough=“”> you mean the one featuring Jar- Jar?
I think my daughter and her date went to Gameworks-then as their limo had decided earlier apparently that adults going out for boating season opening day, were going to be bigger tippers than two kids going to the senior prom, the boys mother picked them up.
Now graduation was different- the Parent association arranged for a cruise boat to take them around the sound till dawn- and dropped them off a short distance from a classmates- where they slept till they were awakened by the smells of brunch being made by parnets.</cough></p>
<p>My daughter went to this conference last year- it sounded great fun to be attending as a peer and running into her former teachers. But they are having their hands full not just dealing with students- but parents.</p>
<p><a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002562222_conference15e.html[/url]”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002562222_conference15e.html</a>
[quote]
Educators increasingly find they are dealing with the behavior not just of students but of their parents, Evans said. It used to be that if you got in trouble at school, you got in trouble at home, but that’s not always the case now, he said.
Parents are acutely aware of the r</p>
<p>While I agree with the sentiment, its none of his business how the students and their parents spend their own money.</p>
<p>I think it is his business
He is the principal of a religious high school- his job is to see students through the school and leave prepared academically, physically, socially for their next steps.
To sit back and watch while other adults provide minors with illegal substances, would be unethical .
To put a stop to a function which affected the student body in a detrimental way- especially when other measures to abate the influence hadn’t worked, seems necessary to me.
If as you say- parents should be allowed to do whatever they want with their money- even if it means contributing to deliquency of a minor , they are still free to put on their own dance, as parents have done in other communities, when the school canceled dances because of student behavior.</p>
<p>I’m confused by this idea of the school “sponsoring” the prom - and asking parents to organize the prom instead.</p>
<p>My kids went to public high schools. They had proms. The way they got proms is that the kids raised money and organized them. The proms were off site and I don’t think $1 of school money went into them. My son was his student body treasurer, with primary responsibility for managing the prom funds – I remember that his first experience after being elected was being handed a checkbook and a balance sheet showing a negative balance of several thousand $$ - his class had a great prom in the end, but I heard plenty of stories about the negotiatons (“they said it was $X to rent the hall but that turned out to be only the deposit, we needed $Z, but I got them to agree to $Y instead”) </p>
<p>I’m sorry, but somehow with 2 kids and, at current count, 4 proms, I had gotten the idea that the primary purpose of high school student government was to organize the prom, and that proms were paid for primarily by having a coupld of fund raisers and charging the kids $120 apiece to attend. The parental organization role was limited to arranging the pre-prom parent photo-taking session, very important for moms of sons to capture that moment when the kid actually dons a tuxedo.</p>
<p>This is part of the reason that almost all of the Catholic high schools in my area host their own post-prom events (one rented out a Dave and Busters, my school uses the gym)…they offer a free, safe, and most importantly, amazingly fun place for us to go after prom (until 4 a.m.).</p>
<p>I don’t know how this Catholic school is run or what is normally expected of student behavior but during functions either at the school or away from the school, where the reason they are there is because they are a public high school student, whether it is a field trip to Hawaii, an athletic competition, or going off campus to lunch, the same rules apply.
No substance use, no fighting etc.
If students are found to be behaving in a way that goes against teh school policy, appropriate discipline will be administered including expulsion.</p>
<p>I am unsure to what level the class advisor ( usually a teacher) and other parents are involved in planning this schools prom as we haven’t gotten to that place yet- but a certain level of behavior is expected whether it is held at the Hilton or in the gym.</p>
<p>My public school solved the problem with After Prom, put on by parent volunteers, from fund raising by the kids, etc., and all the kids come to the school where they have all kids of activities until 6 am, and they “buy” (with thier winnings, and they all win something) tons of stuff such as bed risers, luggage, sheets, coolers, drom fridges, microwaves, etc., and they are all supervised by the staff and parent volunteers. Parents work all year to make decorations, etc. The prom itself is at a hotel, and there are strict rules for drinking in limos - no limo driver wants to lose his license because the kids are drunk. We supplied alcohol free champagne for the kids, and the limo driver had to approve it first. Once kids are in Project After Prom, they can’t leave until it’s over, or they can’t get back in. Solves the problem of going out to the car and having a drink and coming back. I volunteered, spent the night, and the kids and the parents all had a terrific time! We do it this way, because we have a large school, some of the small privates rent Dave and Buster’s, etc. They bus the kids there and back to school after the prom at a hotel.</p>
<p>I agree with Brother Hoaghland. The man deserves an award for having integrity and guts. If parents and students don’t like his policies, there are plenty of other schools that would probably welcome them and their money. Good riddance to them.</p>
<p>Northstarmom is right - the man sounds like he has integrity and guts (and there’s no better way to put it!). This is a Catholic highschool; values are paramount - the president cannot endorse that kind of prom activitiy with a clear conscience. At the same time, did his decision solve anything? Not really. The kids whose parents have the bucks will still be going out on boats and drinking. The kids who weren’t the problem to begin with, however, now have no prom. His decision seems hasty and an all too quick solution to a problem at a school where kids’ parents pay $6,000 tuition! What else can he do, though? It seems he’s run out of options, and a slap on the wrist is the best he can muster.</p>
<p>Our school has an after party but it is a joke. If I wanted to get drunk and high with my friends, why would I ever attend the lame after party? Hardly anyone goes. Parents think it helped, but it didn’t really.</p>
<p>I also salute his stance. Sure, he can’t control the behavior, but he can divorce his school from being connected with it, thus being consistent to its ethical principles. And just maybe some parents and kids will appreciate that the school really stands up for what it says it thinks is important, and maybe it will be a learning moment for others.</p>
<p>I have no patience with the “I can’t change it so I’ll go along with it attitude.” And i’m glad to see a person with a position of responsibility towards young people feels the same way.</p>
<p>I go to a Baptist High School. The Baptists are against dancing. The school sponsors a Jr/Sr banquet for a couple hours, then afterward, we have the prom which is sponsored by the parent committee. The fees are separate, and the school is not involved with the prom. There are rules that keep students from going to their cars and sneaking in alcohol in between (which are moderately successful).</p>
<p>Most of the sex/drinking/partying goes on at post prom parties, and the school takes the stance “if its not on our watch, there’s nothing we can do about it”</p>
<p>Having a prom is a sort of an extra, a privilege. School rules should be attached to them as well: no smoking, drinking etc. If kids don’t like to follow those rules then they don’t have to go. Horrors! I totally agree with the action taken. Schools don’t have to have proms. Withdraw, is what I say!</p>
<p>I read this when it was first reported and think he’s a hero. I particularly love his reasoning - it’s not just the sex and alcohol but the ‘financial decadence’.</p>
<p>plus this is a private school- I am assuming that parents by choosing to remove their children from teh public school system, were aware of the values followed by the religious school.
It really shouldn’t surprise them that the school is attempting to limit the influence of irresponsible behavior by both parents and students.</p>
<p>I am only surprised that this doesn’t happen more often.
WHen students “graduate” from elementary school they get picked up in a limo , when they graduate from middle school they look like they are going to a ball ( well the girls do- the boys are lucky if their shoes are tied), so to have huge parties for proms and high school graduation, isnt that big of a leap, I guess.</p>
<p>No, private school means something entirely different…money…oh yes! Just remember the head is a teacher. He doesn’t make monnneyyy.</p>
<p>I agree with the remark that the man is a hero. My own son went to public high school with kids who had engraved grad anouncements and all thr other expensive extras and kids who couldn’t afford lunch. He always had plenty of what he needed but skipped the extras for the sake of moving on to college expenses. (Now one relative won’t speak to me because she didn’t GET an announcement! Another story, that!) </p>
<p>The point is that everyone thinks a different level of “consumption” is appropriate and necessary for happiness, but this was way beyond reason. It always made me cringe to see the birthday limo in early grades. What could top it? I guess they came up with the answers.</p>