[kaypc]

reading these comments makes me glad i never went to mine.

[squeakypop]

My dress is £40 and my shoes are £100. The prom itself (including 3-course meal) is £35, and I'm getting a lift from a friend's mum (we don't bother with the whole limo thing!).

How do people find something to argue over in a prom forum?!

[skittlesaremydrugs]

Haven't had mine yet but I have spent so far
£15 on transport
£50 on dress
30 for the ticket to prom
Probably will spend about 20 on shoes and about 50 for hair, other accessories, new makeup and some self tanning stuff

I didn't want to spend £200 on a dress I will wear once for what, 4 hours?

[burgerrr]

(Original post by recurring500)
I completely agree with you that we should clamp down on benefit fraud, but that doesn't mean to say that we should forget about these more minor things.

Several individuals, including yourself, maintain that it would be unjust not to subsidise disadvantaged students prom places. I think that charity starts at home; the government should provide a welfare state that gives every single person in the UK the necessities (money to pay for housing, living etc) if they genuinely need it. I then feel that, as a relatively wealthy country with a relatively high standard of living, we should help people in what you refer to as 'third world countries'. These are people who often don't have access to clean drinking water, sanitation and food. One of my arguments is that it is more justifiable to use the money that is currently used for subsidising disadvantaged students' proms, to give children in poverty clean drinking water, medical supplies and other forms of aid. That is why I felt it was important to reflect on people in far worst conditions in other parts of the world.

I said that sometimes we should open our eyes and value what we have because even the disadvantaged here in the UK are very privileged compared to the 134 million children between the ages of 7 to 18 have never been to school or the 2 million children believed to be exploited through the commercial sex trade. These are people who are in far greater need than those who cannot afford to go to the prom, I really hope you can see that now.

So this is more to do with your opinion of foriegn aid than anything else.
Using your own statement that we are £900 million in debt, why do you think we can afford to give more aid when our NHS is "crippled"? You are acting as if the v.small amount we spend on proms actually causes poverty.

[sammy-lou]

Definitely read the thread title as 'porn'

anyway, my prom two years ago I spent about £80 on a dress plus a few cheap alterations, £40~ on shoes, around £60 on hair and make up, and then I think it was £50-70 for a limo between all of us.

Then there was things like the after prom dress, drinks for after prom, jewellery, all those little extras! turned out to be quite pricey

[Cura]

My dad spent around £10000 for a dress and couple of thousands for makeup He wanted his little princess to look spectacular.

[recurring500]

(Original post by burgerrr)
So this is more to do with your opinion of foriegn aid than anything else.
Using your own statement that we are £900 million in debt, why do you think we can afford to give more aid when our NHS is "crippled"? You are acting as if the v.small amount we spend on proms actually causes poverty.

No! I'm astonished that you still don't get it! Mine isn't an argument about foreign aid! It is simply that using limited government money to subsidise proms is a poor way of using these tight funds. I am only bringing in the ideas about the NHS, the education system and foreign aid to highlight far more justifiable ways to use the money. The only reason why I have gone into so much detail about it is because you and 'Belissimo' persist in arguing your very weak thesis about people being disadvantaged if they cannot afford to go to the prom. Read my first post again and I'm sure you will see that the argument comes through clearly and accurately!

[. . .]

(Original post by burgerrr)
So this is more to do with your opinion of foriegn aid than anything else.
Using your own statement that we are £900 million in debt, why do you think we can afford to give more aid when our NHS is "crippled"? You are acting as if the v.small amount we spend on proms actually causes poverty.

The fact of the matter is that "v.small amount" of money could be used elsewhere, where society as a whole would gain a greater benefit than if it was to be used to subsidise prom tickets.

[TheDudester]

Nothing because I'm not going. I wasn't planning on going since we got told the ticket would be at least £50, excluding drinks, it turned out be to £60 I think. The whole thing might be cancelled due to lack of interest. When the ticket costs more than I could afford to pay for a suit, I wonder why?

I'll just have my own party at home with like 10 friends, who I'd actually want to have an end of school send off with, rather than go to an over priced and over hyped event with no drinks, full of a bunch of idiots that I have generally tried to not associate my self with for the past 5 years, and spend the £60 on alcoholic beverages haha

[AishaTara]

last year

£20 dress in the sale (I got it really early though at xmas

£30 ticket
free limo( friends mum got it for us)

[PointyElbow]

£20 on the ticket
£45 on the dress
£12 on jewellery
Getting a lift, and gonna do hair and makeup myself

Haven't got shoes/bag yet.
Tbh though I'm already regretting going, I was a bit iffy on it, but everyone was like, go on, go just once, you've got to go to your prom etc. I feel like such a mug haha, doesn't help that I hate spending my money :L Im doubting I'll even go to my yr13 one in the future as well, so much effort, srs

[gemnomnom]

(Original post by recurring500)
I am actually rather astonished by this. Please don't take any offence, but I really do feel that since the country is in such a mess it is absurd that the government pays for 90% of your prom. If it was an educational activity, like, for instance, a trip to Lincolnshire to learn about coastal erosion, I would have no problem with taxpayers money going towards it, indeed, I would strongly support it so as to ensure equal educational opportunities for all. However, the prom is nothing of the sort; it is a social event - a dinner dance usually. I know of several individuals who did not go to the prom at my school because they couldn't afford it and they did not get offered any financial assistance.

There are many people in the UK who work hard, have families to support and mortgages to pay. They live very hard lives, with every week being a constant struggle, but they don't get offered any benefits - let alone discounts on dinner-dances! I think this really reflects the extent to which 'middle england' is being squeezed and should be a lesson for us all.

I also feel that it is a reflection of how much we take for granted in this country. In many parts of the world people don't even get an education - let alone a prom.

I'm certain that I I'll get negged for this, but this isn't in any way a personal attack at you. I just felt I should express my amazement at what seems to me to be an attempt to narrow the gap between rich and poor, but ironically it actually just creates more social injustice.

Out of interest, do you agree with me? Do you feel there are better ways that this money could be spent - textbooks for our schools or nurses for our hospitals perhaps?

Yeah I do agree with you and I think it's absolutely piss poor. I have a job and paid for my ticket by myself: why should the school pay for those who parents or even students don't work? Ah drives me nuts.

[recurring500]

(Original post by gemnomnom)
Yeah I do agree with you and I think it's absolutely piss poor. I have a job and paid for my ticket by myself: why should the school pay for those who parents or even students don't work? Ah drives me nuts.

Absolutely