Parents and students must think about the dangers of alcohol
this prom season and avoid other meaningless indulgent behaviors
around graduation time
It’s prom season, making it a good time for some common sense tips for parents of high school students.
Parents ought to keep three overarching principles in mind: moderation in all things, don’t condone dangerous behavior, and set high standards.
We hope parents won’t spend obscene amounts of money on what amounts to a high school party. Especially as many families are struggling in the face of sky-high gas prices to make ends meet now and face the additional challenge of paying for college in the very near future, going into debt for an opulent prom makes no sense.
Further, even for those parents who can afford to go all-out for prom, it’s worth a moment’s thought to consider what lessons they’re teaching their kids.
Even more important in the short term is the principle of not condoning dangerous behavior.
It’s tempting for parents to rent hotel rooms and limousines on the theory that no matter what, students are going to drink during prom. We suspect that by making it easy to drink with their parents’ quasi endorsement, many who otherwise would not drink will imbibe.
We can’t see any justification for renting hotel rooms for prom.
If you must rent a limo, make sure the driver takes jackets and purses from the students and puts them in the trunk before the limo leaves. That simple step makes it much harder for students to bring hidden alcohol into the limo. And of course, make certain the limo isn’t stocked.
Finally, talk to your kids. Instead of expecting dangerous behavior, set high standards and enforce clearly established consequences for failure to meet those standards.
Prom is a special high school event where lifelong memories are made. Let’s do what we can to make sure those memories don’t include hangovers, drinking and driving, bad decisions made under the influence of alcohol, or worse.
By endorsing moderation, refusing to condone dangerous behavior and setting high standards, we can go a long way toward preventing those problems.
