There is one day of the school year that the majority of juniors and seniors look forward to. No, it is not graduation, but the big occasion near the end of the year. Prom is that one night of the year where girls get to pick out gorgeous formal gowns and have their hair and nails done, and guys compete to find the most outrageous way of asking a girl to go to prom.
    Most guys will say prom is a waste because it costs a lot of money for just one night. The old tradition of prom was that guys pay for almost everything. They were expected to pay for their date’s ticket, dinner, the corsage, and sometimes even the limo. Those expenses can add up to a couple hundred dollars pretty quickly, and then they have to add on the price of renting their tux.
    Times have changed, though. If the couple is going as friends, the guy does not feel obligated to pay for all of those things. Nowadays, the girls will pay for their ticket and their portion of the limo. Therefore, guys can stop stressing about how they are going to afford this expensive night.
    For the past couple years the complaints have been about how expensive just one prom ticket costs. Students think it is ridiculous to pay $85 or more for a dance. Sure it seems like an outrageous amount, but our proms are not held in little hole-in-the-wall places; they are held in downtown Atlanta.
    Recently, I heard an argument that if our school held prom in Peachtree City, the cost of tickets would decrease. This is most likely true, but there are only a few places around town that can hold hundreds of teenagers for a dance.
    Most of the places that are available for prom in PTC are hotels, which can cause some problems with teenagers. Parents might worry that their children will gain access to hotel rooms where they would not be chaperoned.
    Also, if prom were held locally, students would not get the luxury of spending a night downtown, eating at a nice restaurant, and having a different venue to experience every year. Students constantly complain about Peachtree City being boring, and they say they have nothing to do on weekends. So why have prom in a town that we are all aching to leave?
    If the cost of the prom ticket is an issue, students can find ways to cut the cost of other expenses for that night. Girls can do their own hair and nails. Couples or groups can find less expensive restaurants to eat at. Groups can shop around and find the best deal on a limo or party bus. The more people you have in a group, the cheaper the price is for each person.
    By cutting a little bit of money out of each of those areas, students should have enough money to pay for a ticket. By choosing Atlanta prom venues, we are choosing to pay more for our tickets. Bringing prom to Peachtree City would not be as exciting as dancing in a night club, a ball room, the Coca-Cola museum, or even Turner Field.
    Last year, when prom was held at Opera, students were excited about being able to go to a night club. Juniors were especially excited since they were not of legal age to normally get into a club downtown. All of the underclassmen that have the privilege of going to junior/senior prom were also excited.
    Peachtree City does not have clubs, museums, or interesting places to hold proms. If students really wanted inexpensive tickets, the school could hold prom in the gym, just as they do for homecoming. And I believe every student would agree that they do not want prom in the stuffy school gym. The money spent on prom is well worth it. You are paying to experience a night of being treated like royalty.
    Prom is a night that every student should be able to experience. Students should start saving up money in December so that by the time tickets go on sale in April, they will be able to pay for a ticket.
    Prom is one of those nights that you will always remember. Having prom in Peachtree City would not be as memorable as being at a spectacular venue in downtown Atlanta.