As the weather gets hotter, and the skies become brighter, the end of the school year approaches. For some, it’s just a break from high school until the next school year, but for others, like our seniors, it marks the end of their time in high school. In celebration of their graduation, a prom typically takes place.

Prom, a formal night surrounded only by the teachers who taught them, students they’ve seen in the hallways, and most importantly, those who they’ve formed close bonds with. It’s a pretty big deal to most, and because of that, on social media sites like Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram, many see thousands of promposals, which are high schoolers asking others to go to prom with them. The most viewed ones are typically the most dramatic or humorous. While some schools allow them to be done on school grounds, others have decided to ban it, like John F. Kennedy Memorial High School. Now, the question is: is it fair to ban promposals at school?

The Pros

According to National Promposal Day, promposals date back to 2001, so they’ve been around for 22 years. They’re a way of showing how much you care about someone. People naturally like seeing these, in anticipation of the answer the asker will get, or just to appreciate the effort and the form of asking. It sends a positive message to those watching, by wishing someone would do the same for them, or being inspired to do the same for a loved one. Many schools have gotten positive news coverage for promposals! Online, you can easily find lists of how to ask someone to be your prom date. Prom occurs near the end of the year, which wouldn’t cause too much disruption since the closer the year is to end, the more relaxed everyone is.

Promposals make your prom more memorable. Imagine someone performing a whole dance routine for you, or giving you your favorite flowers with a poster they took time to complete. Sweet actions like those are hard to forget! In the case of friends, it’ll be an experience to bond and laugh about later. Giving someone you love a promposal will make them feel special, and what person doesn’t want to feel special? It’s often a fun experience for everyone involved, since the way they choose to prompose is all up to them! 

Also, promposals can be considered as a form of art. Most students typically create a good-looking poster, which’ll take a lot of time and effort since they’re making it for someone they care about, accompanied by candies or flowers. Some students go the extra mile by conducting a whole scene or dance. These are student-made projects and ways of expressing how they feel in harmless ways. 

The Cons

There are 3 core issues with promposals. One of them is the crowding of hallways. A lot of people enjoy watching them, in anticipation of the response the person being asked will give. The presentation is admirable too, which is where the issue arises. With so many people standing around, the hallways can get easily crowded and prevent students and faculty from getting to their classes. It can potentially cause an inconvenience. For schools like John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, the halls are pretty small, which makes this a bigger issue. 

Secondly, with the crowded halls, it also causes interruption to classes. While teachers are taking attendance, some students could be late due to them watching or doing a promposal. A teacher could begin their lesson, with the sounds of students cheering and clapping in the hallway, which could be considered disruption. 

Now, the final core issue: what if the student being asked says “no”? With a large crowd of students watching, if a student says no to a promposal, then they’d naturally feel embarrassed, which applies to both students, as the one who said “no” might feel bad for rejecting someone in public, and the other who’ll feel humiliated and might not want to show up to school after that. Issues like these can be avoided by carefully deciding if asking them to prom in public is a good idea, since the relationship between them could be from vastly different perspectives. This issue can be debated across, as you shouldn’t be planning a promposal to someone if you’re not certain they’ll say “yes”. It’s your decision making that matters, and students shouldn’t have to be told to not do it just because an individual made a bad choice. 

Overall

There will always be risk to promposing, but do they really overshadow the sweet memories they can create? When it comes to promposals, it’s up for debate. What do you think? Should promposals be allowed in schools?