UK school cancels adolescent 'Bling Fest'

After seven years of adorning their young daughters with the trinkets and trappings indicative of their wealth, parents at Alameda Middle School in Ampthill, Bedford, have been asked to tone it down. This year, rather than having it's young students participate in prom ceremonies not unlike those which are generally reserved to high school junior and senior classes, the Alameda Middle School shall be relegating it's students to having a good, old fashioned, theme dance.

The school administration, and many of the affected parents, were facing mounting concerns that the middle school prom had perhaps become a convenient avenue for parents to display their personal wealth. Some parents were feeling pressured to "measure up." The story by Nick Craven, for MailOnline, indicates that almost all the people involved in the prom activities were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with them. One parent stated," It all got a little bit too much like Beverly Hills."

Thirteen-year-old girls probably should not be posing as debutantes, and their parents probably shouldn't feel the need to adorn them as such. It is pleasing to me that the adults in this situation recognized that things were getting beyond the bounds of good sense. I believe that this change in focus shall be a benefit to both the children and the adults, by reminding everyone how important it is to simply let kids be kids. I feel that the world puts far too much emphasis on appearances already. Perhaps we should keep that kind of pressure off of our children for as long as we reasonably can.