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Posted May 10, 2002

Tom Grein

Caution: Graduation Ahead

Newspapers and the airwaves have been filled with it recently: News of teenagers going to proms, planning beach week vacations, and getting dates for graduation parties. The pictures being painted by reporters is not a pleasant one.

In California, a vice principal chaperone at a recent prom lifted up the girls' dresses to check to see if they were wearing decent underwear. It seems as if several girls in last year's prom were wearing thong underwear in a defiant display of "I'm 16 and I can wear what I want to." When they danced, their undergarments were also displayed to the rest of the prom-goers.

The chaperone made two big mistakes: She lifted up the dresses and she did it in public where both boys and girls could see. Parents were understandably upset, and the teacher was put on "administrative leave."

"That teacher showed more (bare skin) than the girls showed at home," one parent said. But if that parent saw all that "bare skin" at home, don't you think she should have said something to her daughter? Something like, "Don't wear that kind of underwear, June."

Another report, this time on NBC-TV's "The Today Show," told of teenagers at resort spots in Mexico where parties, drinking, dancing and lewd behavior was out of control. Everything from strip parties, wet t-shirt contests, pouring alcohol down people using a hose, and completely inappropriate touching and groping was the order of the week.

Students, not used to being in an uncontrollable situation such as that, were frightened and panicked. Both boys and girls found themselves over their heads in adult behavior. Even the show managers at the resorts were encouraging the behavior, asking the teens to do more and go farther.

While most graduating teens don't vacation in Mexico, many, if not most, Herndon and Reston teens participate in the popular phenomenon called beach week where they share room and board to party in their first quest of independence. Drinking, parties, and behavior that is atypical of these teens just seem to happen during this time of freedom.

The problem of out-of-control teenagers during beach week has become such a problem in Ocean City, Md., that officials now have a program called "Play It Safe," which offers teens free events sponsored by the Ocean City Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Committee. The Play It Safe committee has printed 65,000 Play It Safe booklets which can be picked up at many Ocean City businesses or the Visitor's Center.

In addition, the Play It Safe booklet contains information about potential health hazards, local laws and ordinances and where to seek help if needed.

"The goal of Play It Safe is to encourage high school graduates to make informed, healthy choices while having responsible fun without the use of alcohol and other drugs," organizers of the project say.

But all is not grim for prom-goers and graduating seniors. At Taylor County High School near Columbus, Ga., teenagers ended a 30-year-old tradition where black students and white students held separate proms at the small high school. This year the students voted overwhelmingly to join the groups and have an integrated prom.

"I think it's perfect," Candice Grimsley, who is white, told CNN News. "We go to school with these people every day. Why shouldn't we have (the prom) together?" Taylor County High was one of the last schools to hold separate proms. The school has 420 students, 226 of them black. Gerica McCrary, 17, who is black, said, "In the beginning, the students were afraid of change. But the kids got together. The students tore down the Berlin Wall. Both sides were tired of it." The freedom that graduation brings is a good feeling, indeed. As parents, we must foster good behavior and good manners. High school graduation: It's the start of a lifetime. And that's Our Town this week.