The hidden cost of staying on at school.
Why we need to address the prom phenomenon.
Recently, I came across an article where a mum spoke about spending £1000 on her daughter’s prom and it got me thinking about the wider implications of splashing the cash in sixth year.
A prom deposit is one of the initial costs sixth year pupils have to cough up, with planning committees forming almost immediately after the summer break.
In most schools, the three costs that leavers will have to dig deep for are their yearbook, hoodies and their initial prom costs – before even getting into the cash teenagers have to start forking out for adult fares on public transport. And the thing is these things are a crucial part of what staying on until that final year is all about for many pupils.
Just looking at my own year, there were folk from all sorts of different backgrounds that based their decision around largely those things.
Pupils who do well qualification wise in fifth year have the opportunity to head off to university early, but many choose to bide out their final year in order to enjoy the experiences that come along with it. Similarly, those in the opposite situation, who struggle to flourish academically in a school environment and may have natuarally moved on to the worlds of work or further education consider the same memorable moments as key factors in their decisions.
The vital thing to acknowledge though is that these young people come from all different economic backgrounds – which can often lead to a picturesque senior year becoming a stressful nightmare.
As it’s quite apparent that the trend in spending is not isolated to only one area, and because of the ability to rely on my own experience I will use my own High School as an example.
Child poverty in the council ward that my High School is located in is currently measured at 21%. The neighbouring ward, where many pupils live has an even higher figure of 29%. Now while these figures only measures the poverty levels of those below the age of 16 – it is quite fair to assume that the economic situations of these young people do not change drastically on mass within a two year period.
That means that over 1/5 of these pupils are living in households where there is a struggle to cover even basic living costs, never mind these added extras.
Even those in families “living on the breadline” who barely make ends meet, are hard pushed to find money to cover these costs, which are now accepted as a natural obligation of staying on.
Prom itself usually has a base cost of around £60. While this can be brought lower by using local venues or function halls – in my experience and from my observations on social media it seems “fancy” venues are much more the fashion – in my case Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel.
As in many situations, that then adds on a further cost of shared transportation from the school to the city centre – for those of us unable to afford limo rides, of course!
Leavers hoodies too have teenagers digging into their pockets for roughly £30 within a few weeks of returning from summer break. With year book committees often chasing pupils before Christmas for their £20 contribution.
Before pupils have even started their prelims they, or their parents, are having to pull together over £100 in order to keep up with the rest of their classmates and not miss out on these keepsakes. It may seem trivial if you haven’t experienced these things yourself – but do you want to be the one person in the class photo that’s different from everyone else?
This is the small end of the scale though, the real splashing of cash occurs when it comes to preparing for prom night itself.
Teenage girls can find themselves drooling over dresses costing upwards of £300 – and many end up wearing them on the big night. Similarly, many don’t – even those that are able to come up with a modest £100 are deemed to be dressing on the cheap by some classmates. But remember those 21% who aren’t even making ends meet, where do they even contemplate pulling that kind of extra money from?
There is nothing wrong with a Primark or H&M Number, regardless of the size of your wallet. On a night out or at a party no one will notice, or care, about the difference between your £12 high street bargain or their triple figure dress from Frasiers – but Prom night is a whole different story.
It’s not all simple for the men either – as a woman, I wouldn’t be able to spot the difference between a suit from George or Moss Bros special, but I imagine they probably can. I can’t speak on whether this plays heavily on their minds overall, but I’m sure it will for some.
For the girls – Obviously, there has to be a pair of brand new shoes bought and accessories to go– and those can quickly rack up the cost too. Admittedly, these can also cost very little – but back to those 21% and your already way beyond a feasible limit.
The other real clincher – and one that can really upset a lot of young girls is the added luxury of professional hair and makeup. Thinking back to my own class, there were perhaps a handful of us that didn’t go for this option, and it wasn’t because we wouldn’t have preferred it. It’s just another added cost, on top of the large sum already forked our, to throw at young people who are already struggling to keep up with the spending habits of their more affluent peers.
And back to that “fancy” venue – their drinks are more expensive – being in the centre of town- , limiting again those young people who find themselves short.
You have also have the added element of those who make it an “all night” thing – booking a room at the venue, as many in my year did, forking our even more money their classmates just can’t match.
Naturally , and sadly, this is something we all have to come to terms with in wider life at the moment, even as we continue to fight it – income equality is poor and those at the bottom have it horribly and unacceptably tough. But this specific point in our young people’s lives is one that leaves a mark on them for years to come – we shouldn’t be allowing that to be blackened by unnecessary financial worry.
