You know prom? It’s the end of year celebration that many people consider a rite of passage? Well, the Juniors have been deprived of it this year, according to an email sent by Principal Brian Henry to every Junior. When I read it, I was frustrated. I want to start by saying that I have nothing against Mr. Henry, and I respect him as a principal and an individual, but I just cannot get behind this.

Unfortunately, the same thing happened to the Juniors and Seniors last year. You could argue that last year’s Seniors still (barely) had a graduation, but they still lost prom. 

This is not a good thing to say to a person: that at least they got something. Sure, you may be right, but imagine a burglar took half of everything you own and said “at least you still have half of your things.” It still is not enough.

But since that was last year and we did not know that much about the Coronavirus, the decision had much more grounds than this year.

This year, the people on top of the school system have allowed the Seniors to have their prom, but not us Juniors. First and foremost, I am very glad that the Seniors are able to have their prom, which they deserve, and they even have a place they are using: a venue called the Brooklake Country Club.

Here is the thing: not allowing Juniors to have a prom was such an unnecessary move for a few reasons.

One, a ton of people are already vaccinated, and many have had their second shot. Knowing that, coronavirus cases would not spike like they used to before vaccines were readily available.

Two, the proms could have been separated. Okay, so there are capacity limits. Here is how to work around that: let there be two proms. There would be one for Juniors and one for Seniors. It would be fair to do it that way. The Junior prom could have also just been out on the turf as well. It did not have to be the same as the Senior prom, but at least something would have been nice.

Three, many of us had already lost a lot of memories. Having to spend every other day at home for most of the year took away so many memories that could have been made, and it is even more so for C group students, who have spent the entire year at home. Why can’t we just have this one last thing to end on a better note?

Four, nobody has to go. This is a completely voluntary event. If someone is scared or someone has a family on the watch list, for lack of a better term, they do not have to go. It is that simple. Even if someone has a family member at an actual real risk, there are still other ways to mitigate those risks at home. My point is that we are old enough to calculate our own risks. Assuming a student is in normal or good health, these risks are super low, according to the CDC.

Now, I do believe the people who made the decision have their hearts in the right place, and I do believe they mean well by this. I also am not trying to bash on the administration in the school, the principal, and anyone else in power. I really am grateful that we are allowed to go into school everyday. It is just that all things considered, however, this is just not necessary, and what are us Juniors getting out of it?

At this point, all I ask is that the Seniors can have a normal prom and give us Juniors a normal one next year. By not letting prom be normal, you are robbing a rite of passage from people that they will most likely never get back.