Going to the School Prom Without a Date

This letter is in answer to the article (May 17) about the controversy over a girl who wanted to go to her school prom without a date.

How can educators, responsible for our children from kindergarten through the 12th grade, perpetuate the cruelty inflicted on their “dateless� charges?

I graduated from Garden Grove High School in 1944. We spent all day decorating the gymnasium with colorful crepe paper, balloons and whatever it took to magically make an old gym a beautiful spot for our junior-senior banquet. We set up card tables and our wonderful cafeteria cook volunteered to fix a nice dinner for us. There were several fellows in our school who played musical instruments very well, so our dance music was provided.

About two-thirds of our group had dates, but it was an event open for juniors and seniors. There were boys and girls without dates, but we dressed in our finest clothes and probably spent two or three dollars at most for a wonderful evening. A small minority of couples today are able to spend the extravagant amounts of money junior-senior proms now require.

I would strongly urge all schools to rethink what their main roles as educators are. Are only those with “dates� and an unlimited income the ones to attend? Surely there is some way to put the whole thing in its proper perspective: A time--perhaps the last time--for friends who are juniors and seniors to just have a good time together--regardless of sex!

WINNIE CHAFFEE BROCK

Garden Grove