At nearly all high schools across the country, a key experience for teenagers is attending their school’s prom. Students at WFS are a part of this as well; as soon as winter break concludes and students come back to school, the student body’s focus shifts to the year ahead, which of course includes the excitement and speculation about the upcoming prom. Many things about this year’s prom are going to be different from proms in the past, thanks to the hard work of both the student-led prom committee and the parent-run after prom committee. However, students at Friends have mixed feelings about the way prom and after prom will be conducted this year.

The first difference, which was met with mixed opinions among students, is the fact that after prom will be a mandatory event for all those attending this year’s prom. It will be held at Lucky Strike Bowling Alley in Philadelphia, where students can bowl as well as play a variety of games such as pool and air hockey. It will be fully catered and students will be given VIP treatment. The second difference is that coach buses will be transporting all students from WFS to the mystery prom location, and from there to after prom and back. Some students have voiced concerns about how far away after prom is and how late they will finally get back to school. In past Friends proms, after prom has been optional (although students were required to stay the entire time if they chose to attend), and transportation was up to students. Many students say they would prefer to keep it this way in order to have more freedom. One student stated, “I don’t really like that it’s mandatory because it doesn’t really give me any options and makes me feel somewhat trapped there. Also I really wanted to be able to drive there, since it’s the first year I’ll be able to.” Many students prefer to have more control over their night, where they go, and how they get to where they are going.

The reasoning behind the idea of a mandatory after prom is not to take over student’s plans. It rather is to give them a safe means of transportation to a fun after prom, without the risk of danger and possible alcohol-related accidents. Each year, on prom night alone, 48 American teenagers are killed in car accidents, with 40% of those deaths being alcohol related. Why risk having cars full of teenagers out on the roads late at night, possibly under the influence, when schools could easily put a stop to that by creating a safe, fun environment for students to socialize after their prom? Sarah Balick ‘17, a clerk of the prom committee, agreed with this, stating, “The parents, administration, and school thought [making after prom mandatory] would be the safest, since that’s the point of after prom — to prevent accidents and drinking on prom night.” Even if being required to attend after prom interferes with some students’ plans or seems unreasonable, their motives are only out of care towards the students and their safety.

Despite not every student being thrilled with this year’s compromise, prom is still going to be as fun and exciting of an event as ever. The whole point of after prom is to create a safe and fun space for students, which is why the After Prom Committee put so much work into creating the best one possible. It is impossible to deny that the after prom and prom committees have put a ton of work into their events this year, and they are working their hardest to give students a prom to remember.