October 17, 2005

MAYBE WE NEED TO RETHINK VOUCHERS

Long Island principal cancels prom: Principal: School 'willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy' (AP, 10/16/05)

Brother Kenneth M. Hoagland had heard all the stories about prom-night debauchery at his Long Island high school:

Students putting down $10,000 to rent a party house in the Hamptons.

Pre-prom cocktail parties followed by a trip to the dance in a liquor-loaded limo.

Fathers chartering a boat for their children's late-night "booze cruise."

Enough was enough, Hoagland said. So the principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School canceled the spring prom in a 2,000-word letter to parents this fall.

"It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is rather the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake -- in a word, financial decadence," Hoagland said, fed up with what he called the "bacchanalian aspects." . . .

Chris Laine, a senior from Rockville Centre, said the cancellation was "unfortunate, but you can't really argue with the facts they present. ... It's just what it's evolved into. It's not what it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago. It's turned into something it wasn't originally intended to be."

Besides, Laine noted, the senior class still has a four-day trip to Disney World scheduled for April.

"We go to all the parks with our friends," Laine said just before hopping into his jet-black Infiniti and driving off to meet friends for an after-school snack.

We're in the midst of planning our eldest's Bar Mitzvah. One of the benefits of living here in the mecca of academic leftism is that the parents compete with each other over who can best downplay and underconsume. Right now, our hats are off to the lesbian moms who are taking out close family and a few friends to dinner at an area restaurant although, truth be told, it is too nice a restaurant. As we can't have a BBQ in mid-January, I'm thinking about having our invitees meet us at the main intersection downtown and giving them a card that says "In your honor, a can of soup has been donated to our local soup kitchen. It closes at 8:30 pm and we hope your horizons will be broadened by this opportunity to eat among the less fortunate."

Posted by David Cohen at October 17, 2005 10:28 AM
Comments

You're going to have them all guzzle gas to drive downtown? Never heard of e-mail?

Posted by: oj at October 17, 2005 11:06 AM

You left out the part about the only gift being a t-shirt with the slogan "All I got for my bar mitzvah was this lousy t-shirt",

And who needs gas, just give the guests bus passes to get there.

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at October 17, 2005 11:29 AM

David: What? No BBQ in January?! Sacrilege! Just say the word and I'll be there with this. We can make it as low-brow as you need. You'll be slummin' for sure, man.

Posted by: John Resnick at October 17, 2005 12:17 PM

Mazal Tov, David. Truth is, a male Jew becomes a man only when he presides over his son's Bar Mitzvah.

Posted by: obc at October 17, 2005 2:03 PM

David: We did three. The secret is that the multi-generational dinner dance is a disaster. 13 year olds are not ready for that type of affair.

We had kids party for the kids. We held them at a health/recreation club which had a climbing wall, a swimming pool and a voleyball court. The food was hot doogs and fried chicken. The kids had a good time.

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 17, 2005 2:49 PM

Oh, yeah and mad props to Brother Kenneth M. Hoagland for standing up and saying it.

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 17, 2005 2:54 PM

obc:

I have a copy of the Mishna, and its very clear about when a Jew becomes a man (it has to do w/the length & number of hairs around...)

David:
MAZAL TOV! And to your Son may the Lord impart his richest blessings upon him.

BTW, we use our grill throughout the winter. Neither rain nor snow nor even sleet shall keep a man from his appointed grilling duties.

Posted by: Dave W. at October 17, 2005 9:23 PM

Dave W:

I hope you know I was being silly in my comment - in part.

Posted by: obc at October 17, 2005 11:22 PM

David:

Congratulations. But, no, have a big bash and spend wildly. In your speech to all those lefties you should mention how recent studies prove nature selects for extravagant Bar Mitzvahs. The kids will love you for it.

Posted by: Peter B at October 19, 2005 5:44 AM

Yes, obc, and I was being (as my daughter often says) goofy in mine.

Posted by: Dave W. at October 19, 2005 11:24 AM
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