The high cost of high school

Re “Diploma shock,” June 8

It’s not the diploma that’s expensive. In the 1950s, my Roosevelt High School prom was held in the gym (which a student committee decorated), and the yearbook cost $5. Everyone had a good time.

Sometime in the 1960s, businesses caught on to the profits to be made in yearbooks being in color, having the prom held at a fancy hotel and persuading girls to dress to the nines and spend a lot of time (and money) on makeup and hair. Teenagers have fallen for the temptations of grad night at Disneyland, renting a limo and buying expensive dresses.

Students should instead save their money, go to college and buy their class ring at that point in their education where they reach their goals. They should avoid spending a fortune on a prom that in the long run will be far less meaningful than the experiences that await them once they are out of high school.

Abraham Hoffman

Canoga Park