HIGH SCHOOL FORMALS

I am hearing about the large sums of money spent on the Senior Formals of some private schools. Perhaps this applies to public schools as well. Or not.
One mother said the dress for her daughter cost almost a thousand dollars, as well as many hundreds for shoes, hair dos, make-up, eyelash tinting, eyebrows and fake fingernails. Tickets to the formal cost a couple of hundred or more for two, plus corsages at over fifty. Then there is the pre-formal reception for parents, relatives and friends.
Graduating boys have the expense of a suit or at least a new jacket, a good shirt and good looking shoes. Not as much as for the girls perhaps, but still a lot for parents to fork out when mortgage payments are a worry.
What of those whose parents simply cannot afford this expense at this time? They make some lame excuse that they do not wish to attend. Such lavish expectations create a schism between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’
There are those parents who scrimp and save in order to fund the fees for admission to private schools, hoping to give their child the best chance in life, only to find that the expensive social extras such as overseas excursions and social outings are too much for the budget to bear.
While we know that school formals make wonderful memories for the participants...and all of that..., could it be that they have become a little overdone?