PromB2 STAR BEACON THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

Many people fondly re-member their high school

proms. But while proms make great memories, they also can break the bank.

Prom can be an ex-pensive rite of passage. A 2015 survey from Visa indicated the av-erage American family planned to spend about $900 on the prom, with parents contributing as much as 75 percent of those costs. Sim-ilarly, Visa Canada’s survey showed house-holds with teens were prepared to spend an average of $500 on prom. And spending on the prom isn’t all that’s contributing to the event’s final price tag. There’s the “prom-posal” to factor in as well. In Canada, many teens spend about $150 just to ask out a po-tential prom date, and Americans can spend more than double that amount on promposals.

Tickets, transporta-tion, attire, grooming treatments, meals, and several other factors can add up to make prom very costly. How-ever, those feeling the potential stress of the prom bill can explore various ways to cut

those costs.• Search for deals.

Subscribe to mailing lists and download deal-finder apps like LivingSocial or Groupon to find the best deals. If there’s a particular manufacturer or store that you prefer, sub-scribe to their mailing list, which might make you eligible for “insid-er” deals.

• Shop early. Get a jump on prom shop-ping and possibly save some money by shopping early for prom wardrobes. Girls can shop when party dresses are on discount after New Year’s Eve galas. Waiting until prom season to shop for prom night attire can be a costly mistake, as dresses and formwal-

wear tends to be expen-sive come prom season. Guys can shop sales as well if they want to make a splash in a custom suit. Otherwise, guys can rent tuxedos to save money.

• Go supermarket floral. Supermarkets and warehouse clubs may offer discounted prices on flowers, which promgoers can fashion into boutonnieres and corsages. Also, nothing says you cannot pull a beautiful bloom out of your home garden as well.

• Be your own pa-parazzi. Smartphone cameras now have ex-cellent capabilities, and certain apps can apply filters and fix minor flaws easily. Pair with a coupon for discount photo prints, and soon you’ll have a frugal pho-to memory book or wall portrait.

• Savings in num-bers. See if a particular vendor will cut costs if you book services with a group of friends. Retailers will be guar-anteed the sales, and promgoers can save some money.

Prom is meant for making memories, not getting into debt. Save money with smart shopping.

Cut prom costs withoutcutting the fun

Did you know?The word “prom” is short for “promenade dance,”

an annual formal dance held for high school students, typically those in their junior and senior years. While the term “prom” might not be used across the globe, schools in many countries host similar dances for high school-aged students on the cusp of moving on to college. In the United Kingdom, proms did not become popular until very recently.

Prior to the 21st century, secondary school students in the UK might have attended formal dances at the onset of summer to celebrate the end of a school term, while students old enough to be finishing secondary school might have attended a “Leavers Ball” to commemorate that milestone in their life. But a 2012 report in the Daily Telegraph noted than more than 85 percent of secondary schools in Britain now host school proms, which range from relatively informal gatherings to more extravagant affairs.

In South Africa, students may attend a Matric Dance, which commemorates their final year ma-triculating in their high schools.

German high school students celebrate their graduations rather informally, and such celebra-tions may even include some lighthearted mocking of their teachers.

Promgoers can employ various strategies to cut the costs of attending prom.

Prom can be one of the most exciting evenings in an adoles-cent’s life. A gathering with friends that soon may part for different areas of the country or even the world, prom night offers the chance to let loose and have fun before the “real world” beck-ons.

Attending prom might be a thrilling way for high-school-ers to spend an eve-ning, but prom night can be dangerous as well. Many parents approach their kids’ prom nights with trepidation. To un-derstand why parents can be so appre-hensive about prom night, consider these statistics:

· According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin-istration, approxi-mately 300 teens have died in alcohol-related car accidents on prom weekends over the past several years.

· A 2014 survey of teens between the ages of 16 and 19 by the driving group AAA found that 41 percent of prom-goers would likely use drugs or alcohol on prom night.

· A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services national survey reported 30 percent of male high school seniors consid-ered it acceptable to force sexual activity on a girl who is intoxi-cated or high.

· According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical As-sociation, one in five female high school students is the victim of physical or sexual abuse at the hands of a date.

· NHTSA also says that, by age 18, more than 70 percent of teens have had one drink without adult supervision. When teens drink they tend to binge - consuming at least five drinks on a single occasion.

Through open communication, parents and students can work together to make prom night fun and safe. One way to facilitate this is to en-ter into a prom agree-ment. This written contract will spell out acceptable behavior and what to do in the event of an emergen-cy. Items to include in the agreement can include:

· A curfew for re-turning home.

· An outline of ex-pected festivities and when/where a child will be when not at the dance.

· A list of emer-gency contacts programmed into cell phones, including taxi services.

· Name of the prom date as well as all friends who will be traveling together.

· The limousine company’s name and the driver’s contact information.

· An acknowledg-ment that parents can peruse kids’ belong-ings for illegal sub-stances or alcohol.

· Acceptance on the part of the parent that he or she will pick

up the student at any time or place if the teen is intoxicated or thinks he or she is in danger.

· An open discus-sion on sexual activity and experience and if intimacy is planned for the evening. Parents also should discuss contraception with their children in advance of prom night.

· Teens agreeing to be financially or legal-ly responsible should poor prom behavior result in damage or charges.

Prom night can be an enjoyable experi-ence when students, parents and adminis-trators work together to help ensure a safe, fun evening.

Establish an agreementbetween

parent, child

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communication,parents

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promnight

fun andsafe.

One wayto

facilitatethis is

to enter into a prom agreement.

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event of an emergency.

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