In October 2023, two seniors at the Monroe-Woodbury High School were involved in a promposal– or rather a hoco-posal– during Spirit Week. For those who are not aware, promposals are typically public forms of asking someone to a school dance, hence the prefix “prom”. They include things like large and decorative posters, an “entourage” to help the person asking, and sometimes a populated area in order to attract a lot of attention.
One student thought that this would be a good idea to do for his girlfriend. At the end of the October school day, he and his friends gathered by the subway steps on B floor to present his girlfriend with a poster and flowers. However, with the rush of students trying to get out of the building to reach their buses and cars, there was a big traffic jam in the school’s hallways. During this traffic jam, the high school’s principal Ms. Soto got on the loudspeaker and announced that regardless of the holdup the buses would still be leaving at 2:05. This encouraged many students to get moving, for fear that they would be stuck without a ride home. Later on that afternoon, a message was posted to the Class of 2024 Google Classroom by Ms. Soto. This message stated that the school administration decided to prohibit all promposals on school grounds.
The administration has made it clear that the decision of banning promposals has not come from a place of putting a strain on student expression, but stems from their priority of safety.
“They’re important to the culture of the building and student life,” said Mr. McElroy, who has been an administrator in the high school for five years. “But at the end of the day safety has to be our number one concern.”
Mr. McElroy also specified that this ban is something that has likely been brewing, as incidents that cause frenzy situations like the October Hoco-proposal have been happening for a while.
“The promposals have been going on for years,” said Mr. McElroy. “But it seems like just in the last few years they’ve been happening in the largely populated areas.”
However, some students still don’t see the point in banning such a socially significant activity. Some students argue that in order to have the desired result these promposals have to be in places that might become packed, and placing a prohibition on this decreases school spirit. High school students shared these notions.
“I feel like with the little time we have to get to class the only perfect time to do something like that is at the end of school,” said Arianna Infante. “A warning would’ve been sufficient, because that was very extra.”
“We see it in movies and tv shows,” said Wilson. “Taking them away takes away from the spirit of high school.”
Still, in the midst of these expected opinions among students, administrators amplify the possibility of compromise. Considering the fact that many students probably don’t remember the ban, Mr. McElroy shared that he feels it would be a good idea to return to the matter, and see what specifications can be made. The administration wants to protect student culture while also promoting safety. Therefore, it’s possible that promposals will be allowed in the future with certain restrictions, like keeping them out of highly populated areas.
“If it’s an innocent, safe way to go about it we don’t want to diminish that either,” said Mr. McElroy. “I think we should discuss it, and I think that the students should be involved in that.”