Dear Editor, I
’m a class of 2004 graduate of Live Oak High School. I just
heard about the incident at this year’s high school senior ball and
I read the article. This is truly a bad event that took place. I’m
a personal friend of Carly, the girl who got hurt. Here’s my two
cents on the whole story.
Dear Editor,
I’m a class of 2004 graduate of Live Oak High School. I just heard about the incident at this year’s high school senior ball and I read the article. This is truly a bad event that took place. I’m a personal friend of Carly, the girl who got hurt. Here’s my two cents on the whole story.
In response to one of the concerned parents who believes that the students should be bused to the prom, that would be a good step in stopping situations like this from happening. But even if that happened, there would still be a good amount of students who will have a hotel lined up to go to as soon as the bus drops them off back at the school after the ball.
Another part of the ball that a lot of students enjoy is the limo ride there. If the bus idea goes into play a lot of students will be disappointed that they can’t take a limo.
I agree that something needs to be done to make prom night more safe, and I don’t know what to suggest. I guess that an alumnus student who knows what’s going on at prom nights and who has experienced a crazy prom night himself would know what could be done, but I do know that whatever is done to make prom safer for students will not work for everyone.
Students of today will find any way possible to drink and have fun at the prom, and it sucks that us bad apples mess it up for those students who do follow the rules and stay safe and sober. From what I’ve seen growing up and going through high school, it’s only getting worse from year to year.
Some students who were juniors and sophomores when I was a senior were doing things I would never even dream of doing at that age. It’s only getting worse. And while more rules and regulations are put into place and enforced, students will only find new ways of getting around them. Students are looking forward to good times every day.
I remember sitting through class all week at Live Oak, thinking what I’m going to be doing on the weekend. We planned our prom more than a month in advance. The usual prom planning with your parents and friends: Tux or dress, flowers and such, limo, hotel, dinner reservations and money for pictures and miscellaneous.
And then there’s the fun planning, what to drink, when to drink and who to hang out with. We just try to plan out every situation, and when next year’s seniors plan out their prom, they will know of the rules and regulations and will be able to think of ways to either bend those rules or go around them.
And believe me, drinking is not the only thing that takes place at prom. Also, if somebody does figure out a way to stop students from drinking on prom night, that will only lead to drug use. Drugs are a lot easier to conceal than alcohol, and that just means worse situations could occur.
It’s kind of a vicious cycle that you will never be able to stop. Still, there might be other options to make it safer, but you will never be able to stop the drinking. This is a hard subject to think about what could have been done and what will be done to prevent such problems in the future.
The best way, I believe, to control situations like this would be to address the students about this issue, have an assembly at school before the prom to let students know that parents and school officials understand drinking will occur but don’t approve of it in any way at all.
Maybe just tell the students to look out for each other and if you are staying at a hotel, instead of have a DD (designated driver), maybe just a couple of designated friends who will look out for you at all times. I hope that something is done to make prom more safe, but at the same time, enjoyable for students.
Chris Deem,
Live Oak High School
alumnus 2004
