One of the bizarre customs that has been imported to these shores from the other side of the Atlantic is the school prom. This is a sort of ball held for school leavers involving dancing, dressing up in appalling evening wear and, most shockingly, hiring limousines. The main culprit in this seems to be film and television. Every young person wants to copy what is on the screens these days. Probably the excess of glamour in celebrity culture has a part to play in promoting this abhorrence. Call me a puritan, but there is nothing sillier than seeing photographs in local papers of teenagers dolled up in evening wear.
My worry is the effect of this imported custom on our school gymnasium floors. Are they putting down plastic sheeting for these events? If not, are our taxes going to be wasted on repairing floors ruined by heels that girls have not even learned to walk in? Perhaps some head teachers can reassure me about this.
They really should think about importing the sock hop idea as well.
