Voting For ‘Best Dressed’ At Local Michigan Proms – This Is A Thing? [OPINION]

High school is a rough time, even without class warfare. Why make it harder on these kids? (Yes, that's me on the right in 2000)

I'm not gonna sit here and tap away at my keyboard, complaining about the current and upcoming generations. None of us were able to choose what year we would be born into, or which generation we'd be classified as.

I'm not gonna complain about promposals, or the newest prom dress codes, or how these kids spend more money on prom than I spent on my first car.

I'm not trying to be old and grumpy, honest. BUT...

...this is a thing, and I guess I just don't understand it: news organizations, covering local proms. And not just that, but THIS: the public voting for the best dressed prom couple.

Seriously? IS THIS A JOKE? 

Okay, so maybe this isn't about prom itself. This is more about the media, which I work for.

I can't help but wonder if this segregates certain students, aka the kids who don't have money to go to prom. Prom wasn't cheap when I was in high school - I went to my junior and senior proms. Luckily, at the time, I had a part-time job, so I could help my parents pay for my dress, the ticket, dinner, etc.

What about the kids who don't have the financial means to go to prom? I remember a girl showing up to our prom in jeans and a t-shirt - she could afford the ticket, but not a dress. She took the bus, not a limo. Didn't go to dinner, didn't have a date.

I really feel like this creates so many different issues - asking strangers to vote on teenager's prom outfits. Class warfare, online bullying, self-esteem issues, etc.

Why is this a thing? I don't understand. You're a local media outlet and you wanna post a click-bait article with 300 pictures from a local prom so that the kids, their parents and grandparents all share it? Fine, it's cute. Go for it. The internet has unlimited space, unlike a TV broadcast or a magazine or a newspaper. Use that space.

But don't use it to further the culture of envy, the culture of competition. High school is hard enough - being a teenager is hard enough. I remember worrying about what I was going to wear to school EVERY DAY, because I got picked on for my clothing choices.

It looks like most people had the same thoughts, which makes me feel...not so old and crotchety.