Today’s Senior Traditions Are Losing Their Meaning

What was once meant to celebrate the end of a journey now often comes with a hefty price tag, prompting some seniors to wonder whether tradition has now become obligation.

Senior year traditions have long been a rite of passage for high school seniors across the country. From senior trips and prom to skip day and graduation announcements, these milestones were originally designed to unify graduating classes and mark the transition from adolescence to adulthood. However, as these traditions have evolved over the decades, they have become increasingly commercialized and expensive, leaving many families struggling to keep up with growing expectations. 

The financial burden of senior year has risen dramatically in recent years. According to WMAR-2 News, families now face thousands of dollars in expenses for a single student's senior year. These costs include not only the expected expenses like yearbooks and graduation fees, but also prom tickets, senior brunches, senior trips, college application fees, senior portraits, and other various expenses that have now become a standard. Whether due to the glamorous senior lifestyle we can all watch on social media with a simple search or something else, the bar is higher than ever before.

This commercialization of senior traditions most likely reflects our broader societal trends toward consumption, which I touched on in one of my previous articles on fast fashion last semester (go read that!). Many students feel pressured to document and share their senior year experiences online, which often means they have to participate in the most elaborate and expensive versions of these traditions in order to impress strangers behind their screens. The emphasis has presently shifted from the meaning behind the milestone to the appearance of it. For example, many people have begun rating prom dresses online—which is a big no for me personally, leading to almost a nationwide shaming of children who chose a dress they may have genuinely loved on their most special day. It’s like going to someone’s wedding and saying: “That dress is tacky, let me see what everyone else thinks”. It’s not tasteful anymore.

Some schools and communities have begun to recognize this issue and are working to create more inclusive alternatives (though, not all, and certainly not Liberty, with our prom prices scaling by the date you purchase your ticket from $75 to $100 a pop). Budget conscious options, fundraising efforts, and more scaled-back celebrations can help ensure that all students have the opportunity to participate regardless of financial standing. The value of a tradition lies not in the cost, but in the shared experience and memories it should create.

As costs rise and expectations grow, the challenge becomes preserving meaningful moments without turning milestones into financial burdens. Perhaps the future of senior traditions lies not in how much they cost, but in how much they truly mean to each student.