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Whatever happened to the old-fashioned way of asking a date out to prom? Administrators at a Newport Beach high school discovered that the boys have been selecting their dates through an NFL-style draft. Romance, feminism and any hope we had for the future may just very well be dead.
Here's how the draft works: the junior and senior boys each pick out a piece of paper with a number written on it from a bowl. If a boy chooses a low number, then he stands a better chance of picking out the girl of their dreams. Rich boys have a chance to buy their way to a higher draft pick so they can get a better chance of choosing their dates. A student said one junior paid $140 to get the girl he specifically wanted. (In keeping with the NFL metaphor, we gotta say we feel for the Ms. Irrelevants .)
Although Corona del Mar High School principal Kathy Scott just learned about the draft, it's something that has been going on for the past couple of years without anyone noticing, according to the L.A. Times . That may be because a lot of the girls seem to be pretty okay with it. Though girls don't have to go on a date with the guys who drafted them, a lot of them do. A student told the Times, "A lot of the girls respect the draft and stick with those dates."
Sophomore Jessie Harris wrote to the O.C. Register :
“I am part of the draft and am friends with many girls in the draft and yes, in some instances girls can be picked by appearance,” she wrote to the Register. “It is all just a fun way to decide who you will be going to prom with. It is not meant to harm those who are picked and I do not believe that it does. It is not, was never, and will never ever be used to objectify the girls at our school.”
The O.C. Register reported that the prom draft results were blasted all over Twitter. Even a rule book on the draft—including tidbits about how sophomore girls could be chosen—was tweeted out. Since the draft was between juniors and seniors, a student said some girls were upset because junior boys were picking sophomore girls instead of junior girls.
The school has come out to condemn the draft. Administrators are investigating the draft and students could face suspension (not expulsion) if they discover that the students used money in the process. Scott emailed parents over the weekend about the draft: “I am sure that the intention of this ‘draft’ is not to be harmful, but it may be. It is not OK for any student to be objectified or judged in any way.”
This isn't the first time Coronado del Mar High school students have been under fire. The ACLU filed a civil lawsuit against the school back in 2009, claiming the school nurtured a homophobic and sexist enviroment. According to the Times:
The civil rights suit stemmed from an incident in which three male athletes at the school posted a video on Facebook in which they allegedly used homophobic slurs, "outed" a student and threatened to rape and kill a female student.
"There's definitely issues at that school with certain students feeling entitled," said Jane Garland, the school district's former head of discipline, told the Times. "The culture in Newport Beach is ridiculous and CDM personifies it."
