Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Today’s high school students experience higher levels of stress and anxiety related to the big dance than their parents experienced, a behavioral health expert said.

Those pressures range from over-the-top “promposals” to financial stress over designer formal wear, limousine escorts and extravagant dinners. They also include life-altering temptations to drink alcohol, take drugs or engage in sexual behavior on prom night,

The prom tradition has become expensive – on average, a prom dress alone can cost in excess of $250 – and high pressure for teens competing with peers to have th...