Proms may be the height of the high school social calendar, but most Americans say that they're overrated - and most people didn't even go to theirs
Every year, prom season rolls around, dragging in its wake anxious teenagers, tuxedo rentals and rhinestone-laden gowns. For many Americans proms are a rite of passage, though for others it's an annoyance - and an expensive one at that. Stereotypically the prom centers on the dance itself and the fateful choice of who to ask to the prom, but new YouGov research reveals that most Americans haven't actually gone through this experience.
The latest research from YouGov shows that most Americans (53%) didn't actually attend prom, and among those that did barely half (51%) went with a date. Overall, this means that only 24% of Americans had the 'typical' experience of attending prom with their high school sweetheart.
Most Americans (59%) think that proms are overrated and only 41% say that they're important. Among the 47% of Americans that attended their high school prom, opinion is split - 52% say that they are important, while 48% say that they aren't. Just over half of Americans - 53% - say that they didn't attend their prom, and among them opinion is a lot more settled, with 69% saying that proms are overrated, though 31% of those who didn't attend say that they missed out on an important experience.
In the lead up to proms high schools are awash with rumours of who is going with who to the prom, who asked out who and got turned down and who never asked anyone at all. Among men who went to prom with a date of some sort, 79% asked their date while 19% were asked out by their date. Among women 29% did the asking, while 67% had the opportunity to gives a thumbs up or thumbs down to their suitor.
