SEEING many of the wonderful prom pictures made me think back to my time at school in the mid 90s.

I went to a comprehensive school and for the end of our compulsory schooling, we took our shirts in and got them signed by everyone, including the teachers, who organised an all-day assembly showing embarrassing pictures of the pupils.

The background was music from our era and it touched many to tears as it was such a wonderful gesture.

We wore casual clothes and truly felt like we had finishing a massive part of life.

I knew I would never see many of them again, save for the few who stayed on and joined me in the Sixth Form.

Our future seemed to stretch out filled with both excitement and fear.

We each received a memory-type book summarising the while day.

It was wonderful and I still have it, even though it’s slightly dog-eared.

We did not spent lots of money like the children of today by having an expensive prom and I can’t help thinking that a milestone such as leaving school has become too commercial, taking its cue from American schools with regards to an elaborate display of ostentatiousness.

It’s fine if you can afford it but what financial pressure is put on parents when their children want to turn up in a sports car or vintage classic?

Will a school leaver have a better time arriving in a sports car for a over-the-top evening of celebration or would a more intimate assembly create a longer lasting impact?

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It must be to to with celebratory culture and everything is visual and materialistic.

Let’s get this into perspective – it’s only the ending of school, not even

A-levels or beyond.

Even then, I’ve never celebrated with such fanfare and my late 30-something peers tend to

down-play such milestones in life.

Maybe it’s a generational thing, coming from the recession-riddled 1980s, when a meal at the pub

with mum and dad would be a big thing, needing to get dressed up

and not something to be done on a whim.

Be proud of achievements but always remember what is really at the heart of the celebration.

If such a fuss about smaller milestones in life, what precedent are we setting for the workers of the future?